Safe House
by Child of the Ancients
Summary: The spirit detectives have to take the writer of the Time series to a safe house for her own protection. Of course, complications arise that make living in the safe house... difficult.
1. Chapter 1

CotA: I have a few things to explain before this story starts. First of all, I use the Japanese Honorifics (-sama, -san, etc.) in this to help you guys understand everyone's relationships. For further explanation, I'm including a clip out of "Tsubasa" by Clamp. Trust me, these will help with the story.

-san: This is the most common honorific, and is equivalent to Mr., Miss, Ms., Mrs., etc. It is the all-purpose honorific and can be used in any situation where politeness is required.

-sama: This is one level higher than "-san." It is used to confer great respect.

-dono: This comes from the word "tono," which means "lord." it is even a higher level than "-sama," and confers utmost respect.

-kun: This suffix is used at the end of boys' names to express familiarity or endearment. It is also sometimes used by men among friends, or when addressing someone younger or of a lower station.

-chan: This is used to express endearment, mostly toward a girl. It is also used for little boys, pets, and even among lovers. It gives a sense of childish cuteness.

Sempai: This title suggests that the addressee is one's "senior" in a group or organization. It is most often used in a school setting, where underclassmen refer to their upperclassmen as "sempai." It can also be used in the workplace, such as when a newer employee addresses an employee who has seniority in the company.

Kohai: This is the opposite of "-sempai," and is used toward underclassmen in school or newcomers in the workplace. It connotes that the addressee is of a lower station.

Sensei: Literally meaning "one who has come before," this title is used for teachers, doctors, or masters of any profession or art.

(Blank): Usually forgotten in these lists, but perhaps the most significant difference between Japanese and English. The lack of honorific means that the speaker has permission to address the person in a very intimate way. Usually, only family, spouses, or very close friends have this kind of permission. Known as yobisute, it can be gratifying when someone who has earned the intimacy starts to call one by one's name without an honorific; however, when that intimacy hasn't been earned, it can also be very insulting.

* * *

Chapter One

"Sari-chan, I'm bored out of my mind," Tonya complained as she set her book bag on the cafeteria table her friends always sat at. She brushed her jeans off and adjusted her blue tank top. She gave a very dramatic sigh just for fun as she stretched out her five-foot four-inch frame. She was slender, almost petite with modest curves. Her eyes were a little large for her face, her nose was average, and her mouth was a little small.

"So? Do your homework or something," Sari replied as she rubbed the sleep out of her teal eyes. "It's too early to listen to you." She attempted to tuck some of her dark brown hair behind her ears, but it was a little too short for that. She had cut her hair to her earlobes just a week ago.

"What homework? We just got back from spring break," Tonya retorted, running her fingers through her shoulder-length auburn hair as she sat down by her brown-haired friend.

Sari yawned, still tired. She had spent too much time on the internet the night before. "Then work on one of your stories." She didn't feel like listening to her friend complain, especially since it was so early in the morning. She did not do mornings at all.

"Okay." Easy going and very easily distracted, Tonya opened her book bag and pulled out a large folder that had definitely seen better days. With a small smile on her face, she began editing a chapter she had just finished writing the day before. She was always working on some story or another; she even posted them on the internet.

As the minutes ticked by, other people sat down at the table. Most of them were seniors, but others were juniors. They were a motley crew with each person being about as different as he or she could be from the others. One was in agriculture, another was the future valedictorian, and a third was the local Star Wars fanatic.

When there were about three minutes until the teachers finally dismissed the students so they could go to their lockers and first hour classes, Tonya felt someone cover her eyes. No one had ever really done that to her before, so she couldn't help but feel surprised and curious.

"Yes?" she asked, trying to figure who it was. Everyone that she knew was already sitting at the table.

"Sorry, but you have to guess," a masculine voice ordered, still keeping her eyes covered.

Tonya knew that voice, but she hadn't heard it in over six months. "It can't be... Jake-kun?" she inquired, her tone laced in disbelief. Jake lived in Nebraska, over eleven hours away. He couldn't be at her school; there was just not any way.

The male uncovered her eyes to let her see that she had guessed correctly. "Hey, Tonya-san."

"Jake-kun!" she exclaimed happily, jumping out of her seat and giving him a quick hug. She had missed him so much. "Oh, geez, what are you doing here? Why are you here?" She felt like asking many more questions a mile a minute, but she held herself back.

"I just moved here," Jake replied, chuckling. He had a great laugh... well, Tonya thought he did, but she was a bit biased. "I had totally forgotten that you lived here until I saw you this morning." The part about him forgetting had been a complete lie, but he wasn't about to tell her that... at least not yet. There was a lot of things he didn't want to tell her at the moment.

Smiling, Tonya introduced him to her other friends, enjoying the looks on their faces to no end. They had all seen pictures of Jake, but not one of them had guessed that he was so good looking. The photographs hadn't done him justice. His darkly tanned skin matched his black hair, and gorgeous aqua eyes studied the world through thick lashes that any girl would envy. His only flaw was that he was short for a guy-only an inch or two taller than Tonya. He made up for his lack up height by being perfectly muscled. He wasn't too bulky, which Tonya loved. He was just the right size.

"What classes do you have today?" Sari inquired, and Jake listed them.

"Hey! You have half of them with me." The auburn-haired girl clapped her hands. Her classes were going to be so much fun with Jake in them. "I can help you find them... if you need me to."

"Cool. Thanks." Jake smiled in thanks.

Tonya did end up showing Jake around school, and she later learned that he lived only two miles away from her house. That was pretty good, considering that she lived seven miles out of city limits and just outside the state park. During the day, they agreed to get together after school at the park and catch up on each other's lives.

* * *

"So, Jake-kun, why exactly did you move out here?" Tonya asked as she sat down on one of the benches, looking up at Jake. She crossed her legs, stretching her arms above her head. _'Ah... it feels so good to be outside with Jake-kun.' _

The black-haired male shrugged. That was one of the questions he didn't want to answer just yet. "My dad got a job at the new factory, so here I am." While the answer had been the truth and his father had gotten a job at a new factory, his family had not moved. His family was still in Nebraska; only he had moved.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with that. I moved here because my dad got a job on the military base." The girl gave him a small smile. "It's no big." She knew what it was like to move, and she hated that fact. She destested moving around.

"Geez, you're a compulsive liar, aren't you?" a boy asked as he walked up to them. He had obviously just come out of the forest on the dirt path. He kicked a small stick as he walked, his manner relaxed. "You didn't move out here because of your dad."

"Excuse me?" Tonya stared at the new boy, frowning slightly at his greased-back black hair and his chocolate brown eyes. He was about three inches taller than her, dressed in familiar-looking green clothes, and he gave out an aura that screamed "punk." _'He looks so familiar, but where have I seen him before? It's on the tip of my tongue, but why can't I think of it?' _

"Hi, Yusuke-san," Jake said, waving slightly at the new guy.

The auburn girl nearly fell off the park bench. That boy greatly reminded her of a character off a television show, and the names even matched. "You know him?" she wanted to know, and Jake nodded his head, his cheeks a little red. _'Something's up,' _she thought, frowning slightly. _'That can't be Yusuke Urameshi from Yu Yu Hakusho. There's no way. It's a cosplay; it has to be.' _

"Yeah, we know each other. We're working together at the moment," Yusuke answered for the dark-skinned boy as he pulled a cigarette out of his pocket. "Now, why don't you ask him the real reason why he's out here?"

Tonya wrinkled her nose at the sight of the cigarette. "Would you please not smoke that around me?" she asked, tone one of annoyance. She hated cigarette smoke; it gave her headaches.

The grease-haired guy sighed and put the object of distaste away as a redheaded, green-eyed male came out of the trees as well, chuckling. "Well, Yusuke-kun, it seems that more than just Keiko-san detests your smoking habits." He put his hands in the pockets of his uniform pants, a small, endearing smile on his face. He had a kind of grace about him that Tonya instantly envied, even though the grace seemed unnatural.

At the sight of the new guy, her jaw fell. She easily recognized him. "_Grande Dios sobre_!" she exclaimed, eyes wide. "No, no, no, no, no!" She turned her blue eyes to Jake. "What in the flying flip is going on here? Are you trying to pull my leg or something? These guys aren't supposed to exist!" She shook her head in disbelief, frowning slightly. _'What is going on?' _

"Not supposed to..." the redhead began to repeat, but he stopped himself and shook his head, his red hair gracefully swishing back and forth. Tonya almost instantly fell in love with his hair. It was so pretty and perfect. Her fingers twitched to touch it but she resisted the urge.

"What nonsense have you been filling her head with?" Yusuke demanded to know of the aqua-eyed boy. He did not look happy. In fact, he looked down right annoyed, which fitted him pretty well.

Jake shrugged. "Nothing; I haven't told her a thing about you guys." He paused, a strange look in his eyes. "I didn't need to."

"_Madre de Dios,_" Tonya whispered, standing up and walking over to the redhead. She almost couldn't believe what she was seeing. "You look just like Kurama-dono." She stared up into his green eyes, finding them clear and beautiful, just how they looked in all the pictures she had. No normal human had such beautiful eyes.

"I am Kurama," the green-eyed boy replied, frowning slightly. There was a small amount of confusion in his eyes, as if he had no idea what Tonya was talking about.

The female shook her head. "No, you can't be Kurama-dono. Kurama-dono is a fox demon who was reborn into a human body. Demons don't exist." She took a deep breath. "Besides, Kurama-dono is an anime character. He can't exist because he's only a drawing... a person that someone made up."

She had the utmost respect for the Kurama from the show; he was the greatest thief in all Makai, after all. Besides, he was her favorite character in the whole Yu Yu Hakusho series, with Hiei coming in close at second place. She adored how wonderfully polite, powerful, handsome, smart, and funny Kurama was. He was too perfect to describe, and she had yet to find any flaw in his character.

"I can assure you that no one made me up," the Kurama look-alike promised, his tone sincere. His voice sounded exactly like the one she adored so much from the show. "Although how you knew about my past, I do not know."

"_Infierno no_!" Tonya retorted firmly, turning to Jake, her tone becoming sarcastic. "Are the others coming? Hiei-sama? Kuwabara-san? Koenma-sama and Botan-chan, maybe?" She looked at Yusuke. "If you're Yusuke-san, then you went through Genkai-san's training, and I know that no one could survive sleeping with snakes for three weeks."

The greasy-haired boy shuddered. "Don't remind me of ba-san's boot camp. That place was a nightmare." He sounded like he meant it, and Tonya couldn't help but believe him for a moment.

"How much do you know about us?" the redhead inquired, his green eyes on the girl. _'It might be dangerous for someone so knowledgeable about us to wander around without any kind of protection.' _

"A lot more than you guys could ever imagine," Jake answered for her. "And I've got one word for you-fan fiction." He grinned impishly, enjoying the brief teasing moment. It had been so long since he had last teased her, so he had some catching up to do.

Tonya paled, her face becoming almost pure white. "Don't you dare!" she snapped at him, blue eyes flashing dangerously. "Don't you dare say another word." She hated being teased when it came to her stories. In fact, she was downright protective over them, letting almost no one she personally knew read them.

"Did he hit a sensitive subject?" Yusuke teased, his brown eyes lighting up. He enjoyed few things more than picking on someone. It was one of his favorite things next to fighting.

"_Urusai,_" she shot back smoothly. "Just shut up." She didn't want to deal with so much teasing, especially with all the other crap she was being thrown at the moment. _'My brain is going to go into overload soon. I just know it.' _She could feel her heart rate increase as her head began to throb with the beginnings of a horrible headache.

"I've been faithfully reading your stories," Jake stated, still grinning. "And I have to admit, they're very good. Perhaps you should fill in the guys on what happens in them?"

_'He had better shut up,' _she thought darkly, not liking how far he was taking things. Anger welled up inside her, and she wanted nothing more than to make him shut his mouth. "Jake-kun..." Tonya narrowed her eyes at him as an invisible force knocked him back into a tree.

Jake rubbed his back as he walked forward to stand by the Yusuke look-alike. "Well, that was interesting." He continued to rub his back, pieces of bark falling to the ground.

"What the...?" She blinked, a confused expression on her face. "Are you okay?" She didn't have a clue as to what had happened, but she was willing to take a bet. She was going insane. That was certainly the only explanation she could come up with. Her mind whirled, her headache increasing.

"Yeah. Fine," Jake answered as he popped his back. "Just peachy." He stretched, hearing his back pop again. _'There... that feels better.' _

Kurama chuckled, finding the whole situation amusing. "So she sends you flying and then asks how you are doing. Unusual." He had never seen someone attack another person and then sincerely inquire as to how they were feeling. The rest of the meeting would prove to be interesting.

"I did not do that!" Tonya protested, gesturing toward her friend. "I can't move things with my mind!" The very suggestion that she could do something so impossible was absurd. She had no magic, no power, and no special abilities. She was a normal human being. Someone was playing a trick on her.

"Of course not," the redhead agreed. "You sent out a wave of power that knocked him back."

The girl shook her head, whipping her dark red hair into her face. "No. You all are nuts. I won't believe it." She crossed her arms. "I'm going home now."

"You can't go unless at least one of us comes with you," Jake stated.

Tonya walked up until she was a foot away from him and glared. If a look could kill, hers would have. "I can, and I will." She spun around, her manner stiff. "I've got only one thing to say to you all-_mocca-mocca su su._" Scowling, she made her way back to her car, which was only twenty feet away. _'I'm going home. I refuse to put up with any more crap.' _

She found a black-haired male standing by her car, dressed in all black, a sword in his hands. His red eyes watched her with an unreadable emotion. He looked remarkably like Hiei. It seemed that the cosplay convention was still going on.

"Would you mind moving away from my car?" Tonya inquired, ignoring the weapon that he had. She figured that he couldn't possibly know how to use it. Most people in America couldn't even hold a sword correctly, let alone fight with one. _'Unless he actually is Hiei-sama, and then I'm dead no matter what. He doesn't like humans,' _she mused.

She had almost as much respect for Hiei as she did for Kurama. Hiei had been through so much, and she admired his will to survive as well as his love for his sister Yukina. The fire demon was a unique character with such a sad past that she couldn't help but feel he had a right to act so stubborn, rude, and arrogant. Of course, it helped that she found him cute as well.

"I suggest you turn back around and listen to what they have to say," he said coolly, red eyes impatient. It was easy to tell by his frown and unfriendly expression that he did not want to deal with her. It seemed like he wanted to be miles away.

"And what are you going to do if I don't?" she wanted to know, moving to climb into her car. The male was suddenly standing in front of her, blocking her way. She blinked in surprised. _'Geez, he moves fast. Just as fast as Hiei-sama.' _

"I will simply cut apart your precious little vehicle like a loaf of bread," the male responded. He even sounded like he meant the threat, which angered her.

Tonya suddenly noticed that his eyes were barely below her eye level. She was almost as short as the Hiei look-alike. "This is too much." She shook her head. "Ya know what? _Jigoku o ikamasu_." Without warning, she smacked him, just for being a jerk to her. "Don't threaten me or my possessions, okay? I'm not in the mood."

The short male quickly reacted by putting the tip of his blade at her throat. "Do that again, and I'll slice off your head." The blade flashed in the light, the edge obviously deadly sharp.

She took a few steps back, sighing in relief when the black-dressed guy didn't move. "Bastard," she spat out before turning around and walking back to Jake and the others. It was a defiant move, almost as if she was daring him to attack her from behind. She didn't believe he would; she was willing to bet on it. Besides, she wanted to get away from him as quickly as possible. Anyone was better than the jerk who had just threatened her. Plus, Jake seemed to be the one who knew everything.

A carrot top had joined them while she had been gone, and the Hiei look-alike quickly reappeared as well. The boys talked amongst each other while Tonya scowled at them. She didn't know what was going on, but she planned on finding out. There was no way she was going to allow them to continue keeping secrets.

"Okay, I want an explanation now, Jake-kun," Tonya demanded. "You dragged me out here, brought out your little _Reikai Tantei_ look-alikes, and pissed me off beyond belief. I want to know what in the flying flip is going on!" She stomped her foot to emphasize just how much she meant what she had said.

Jake sighed, raising one hand to rub his forehead. "You remember your Time series?" he asked.

"What's he talking about?" the Kuwabara look-alike wanted to know. He sounded just as stupid as the Kuwabara from the show did, and that was saying something. Tonya didn't think anyone could possibly sound that dumb.

"You should know, _baka_," Hiei retorted, sounding perfectly natural.

"Do you?" the carrot top inquired.

The short man snorted. "What do you think?" He really didn't, but he wasn't going to tell the stupid human that. His pride wouldn't let him.

Tonya rolled her eyes and ignored the other men. _'Although, they do act just like Hiei-sama and Kuwabara-san,' _she thought with some intrigue. "Duh. I wrote it," she answered sharply.

"You're Kaline," he stated. "Actually, you're more like Kaline's daughter, but that's beside the point."

"I don't understand," Tonya responded, completely confused. "You're not making any sense." _'It's official... Jake-kun has finally gone off the deep end. All his screws are finally loose, and his mind is gone.' _She shook her head to try and make some sense out of what Jake had said, but she just couldn't seem to do it. _'What does Kaline have to do with anything? How am I Kaline? I know that in a way I am, because I did create her, but that has nothing to do with this conversation.' _

Yusuke decided to step in, knowing that Jake was making a fool of himself and not getting anywhere. He didn't understand what the guy was saying, because he had never even heard that the girl wrote stories. He also didn't know who Kaline was or what she was. What he did know was that Tonya needed to know that she wasn't a human. "You're a demon, and a powerful one."

"Supposedly," Hiei added.

"Bullshit," she retorted. "Complete bullshit. I'm not a demon, okay? Demons don't exist." She glared at Jake. "I don't know what you're trying to do, but I want you to stop this right here and right now. I want to go home, and when I've cooled off, you can explain what you were trying to prove to me." She had finally had it. She had reached her limit for the day, and she had no problem letting the boys know it. Her head felt like it was going to explode.

"You're in danger," Kurama informed the girl. "Koenma-sama sent us to bring you to a safe house and protect you."

Tonya snorted at that, and then she began to laugh. It was either laugh or scream until she devolved into insanity, so she chose to laugh. When she finally stopped, she shook her head at them. "_Nande kuso? _Do you think I'm stupid?"

"No," Jake replied.

"Yes," Hiei answered.

"Shut up, _koebi_," the auburn-haired girl snapped, eyes flashing in anger. She hated being called stupid. "I'm not stupid. I know the difference between reality and fantasy. Anime is fantasy. Demons are fantasy. All of you are real, but you're not the _Reikai Tantei_, and there's no way that I'm a demon. God, go back to the cosplay convention and leave me alone."

"I'm a demon," Jake stated, causing the girl's laughter to begin anew.

"Aren't you done laughing yet?" Yusuke shook his head at her, quickly becoming fed up with the girl's attitude. "I wanna get going soon, okay?"

"Then get going. I'm not stopping you," Tonya informed him.

He raised an eyebrow at that. "Yeah, you are."

She sighed. "If you want me to believe what you're saying, then you'd better show me some proof, like your attacks, Hiei-sama's jagan... or something." She sat down on the bench, crossing her arms and legs. "Go on. I'm waiting." She didn't expect them to do anything, but she was going to give them a chance. They deserved at least that for coming up with such a good prank.

Jake ran his fingers through his short hair, frustration evident on his face. "Fine." Black power began to ripple over his form, spreading out to form a translucent bubble around him. Black lighting snapped and crackled, making the female jump.

"Madre de Dios..." Tonya stared in shock as Jake grew black cat ears and a long black tail, his pupils becoming mere slits. His hair was a little longer and as well as straight. His aqua eyes practically glowed, giving a hint as to the power hidden within.

"Here is my proof." He held his hands out to his sides, his muscles rippling. For some reason or another, they were suddenly a little larger than normal. "Well?"

She buried her head in her hands. "No... I'm dreaming. It can't be possible." She shook her head a few times before taking another look at her friend. "I'm still dreaming." She pinched herself, but she didn't wake up. All she did was leave a red mark on her arm.

"Hn. Foolish girl can't even accept what her own eyes tell her." The Hiei look-alike suddenly found himself flying back into a tree, a loud crashing noise resounding throughout the area.

Tonya turned to the downed male. "Where's your proof?" she demanded, fury making her words sharp. She wasn't entirely sure why she was so angry with him, other than the face she just did not care for the situation. "Do you claim that you're Hiei-sama? Or are you going to be the first to give me your true name?" She continued to glare at him as he stood up, his red eyes flashing in anger.

He growled at her, the sound more animalistic than human. "I am Hiei." Without warning, he pulled off his white headband, revealing a closed eye in the center of his forehead. The eye suddenly opened and blinked at her, making her gasp.

"What in the...?" She looked at the other three males. "What about you guys?" _'Oh my dear Kami... I think that they just might be telling the truth.' _ She could feel her world begin to tip upside down as her beliefs were twisted and changed in a few painful moments that made her feel like she was losing her mind.

Kurama pulled out a rose and turned it into a long, thorny vine whip. Yusuke powered up his spirit gun without firing it, and Kuwabara summoned his spirit sword.

"There. You have the proof you want," Kuwabara said, dispelling his weapon. Yusuke and Kurama did the same.

"I... I..." Tonya stood up on shaky legs and walked over to Jake, timidly reaching out to touch his ears. She tweaked one and then the other, finding them both to be authentic. They were soft, warm, and fuzzy... not to mention absolutely adorable. "This is all real..."

"Of course it's all real," Yusuke responded, scowling in annoyance. The girl was causing more trouble than she was worth. He hadn't been expecting such a huge fight from her. "So can we go now?"

"Oh my..." Without knowing what to do, she did the only thing she could think off-she fell to the ground on her knees and shook her head.

"Tonya-san?" Jake knelt down to check her, worry clearly written on his face. "Are you okay?"

Blue eyes looked back at him. "I don't know. I just want to go home."

"Okay, but at least one of us has to come with," he replied, changing back to normal. He didn't want anyone else to see his demon form, mainly because it'd either cause people to panic or doubt their sanity.

She nodded her head dumbly. It was all she could manage to do under the circumstances. Her mind was having problems processing everything, and so it had partially shut down to give her time to fight back the feeling of instability.

"And I don't think that you should drive," the cat demon added, earning a mere nod once again from the girl. He sighed and turned to the other males. "Which one of you can drive?"

Tonya suddenly snapped out of her stupor, her unreasonable anger lashing out and breaking her mind out of the partial coma it had been in. "No one is driving me anywhere! I'll drive myself, thank you very much. I don't want any of you touching my car."

The men blinked at her in surprise. She had recovered much faster than they had expected.

"Now, who's coming with me? I don't want both Hiei-sama and Kuwabara-san in my car," she continued. "Jake-kun, you can take at least one of them." She knew what would happen if the two were trapped in a small space together, and she wasn't about to be present for that. Besides, she didn't think her car could survive having both of them in it.

"I'll go with the neko youkai," Hiei stated, walking over to the beat-up truck, which had definitely seen better days.

"Okay, the rest of you can fight over who gets shot gun." Tonya went over to her car and climbed into the driver's seat, finding Kurama beside her in the car a moment later. "You won the argument?"

He shook his head, a small smile on his face. "No. Yusuke-kun and Kuwabara-kun are still arguing over this seat. I felt it impolite to keep a lady waiting."

The girl chuckled. "Yusuke-san! Kuwabara-san! You two can get in the back!" she shouted at them. The two boys stared at the redhead in the front seat.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Kuwabara wanted to know.

Tonya decided to cut off all discussions before they could begin. Her head hurt and things just were not going the way she had expected. She wanted to go home and talk to her parents so they could reassure her that she had not gone insane. "I don't care at the moment, so both of you _idiotas _can just get in the back seat of my car or you can walk, okay?"

They nodded and did as she asked, not wanting to delay things with another one of Tonya's outbursts.

Somehow, everyone made it to Tonya's house in one piece; however, the teal-eyed female had no idea exactly how. What was even stranger was that her parents were accepting of the five boys she dragged inside. Neither of the adults commented much. In fact, her mother even offered to prepare snacks for them all.

Tonya brought all the boys into the basement family room, sitting down in a chair as she glared at them all. "Okay, people, it's time for a more thorough explanation. I wanna know exactly why you're here." She felt safer at home, more in control. It allowed her to deal with the situation a little easier, especially as she swallowed a few Tylenol to help with the headache.

"We're here to take you to a safe house and protect you," Kurama answered.

"Protect me from what? Drunk drivers and rude, stupid underclassmen?" she retorted, blue eyes flashing in annoyance. "I don't need protecting. I'm fine on my own."

Jake sighed. "I forgot to tell you all; she's incredibly independent. She doesn't accept help very often."

"I only accept help when I need it, and I most definitely don't need it." She glared at all of them, trying to get her point across. She failed.

"You need help now," Kuwabara said. "You don't know how to fight."

Tonya shrugged. "Big deal. I don't like to fight, and I don't need to either." She saw no reason to learn how to fight. After all, she lived in a small enough town that the crime rate was low. Besides, she never went anywhere bad or dangerous, so she didn't need to know how to punch or kick.

"You will if a demon goes after you and you have no protection," Kurama informed her.

She rolled her eyes, refusing to agree with him. "No demon could possibly want me." _'Although, his reasoning would make perfect sense if a demon did want me.' _

"Wanna bet?" Yusuke retorted. "We already know that at least three demons want you, and there're probably more."

"Riiiight." She snickered, shaking her head. "Like I'm going to believe that. Get real." She had never heard such a good joke, especially from Yusuke, and he had come up with some pretty good ones.

"We were telling the truth about who we are, weren't we?" Jake inquired, trying to make her believe them. "So believe us now. We're telling the truth, and you're in grave danger."

"Why would a demon want me? I can't do diddly," Tonya reminded them.

The green-clad black-haired boy scowled at her. "Haven't you been listening to us? You're a powerful demon!" he shouted. "Pull your head out of your ass and just accept what we're telling you without having to ask twenty questions! We don't have time to deal with your stupidity!"

The auburn-haired girl stood up and slapped Yusuke, not caring that he was the winner of the dark tournament and the most powerful spirit detective Koenma had. "_Kisama_," she muttered, stalking off to her room. No one made any move to stop her, and they soon heard a click. She had locked her door.

Music soon flooded the area, but it was not nice or even slightly pleasant. "ICP." Jake sighed. "She's beyond pissed off. I don't know what to call the state she's in right now." He glared at Yusuke. "And this is your fault. I don't know how long it'll take for her to calm down. The last time I heard her play this stuff, she was on the verge of snapping and killing someone... or so she claimed."

No one knew what to say to that.

Hiei just listened to the lyrics, actually enjoying what he was hearing. Kuwabara stared at the short spirit detective in shock. "You like this junk?" the carrot top asked, disbelief on his face.

"What does it look like, fool?" the fire demon retorted.

"Well, if you like this music, why don't you see if you can get Tonya to let you in her room so you can protect her?" the aqua-eyed boy suggested. He didn't want to leave her without a guard.

Shrugging, the koorime knocked on the girl's door.

"WHAT?" Tonya snapped over the loud music. She wasn't in the mood to deal with people, especially the boys outside her room. At the moment, she just wanted to be left alone to fume. She was tempted to being throwing things around the room just to vent some of her anger and make herself feel better.

"It's Hiei. I want to listen to this," he stated, being as blunt as usual. "Let me in."

The door suddenly opened and the girl gestured for him to enter; however, she quickly locked her room back up, leaving the other guys out in the family room.

Hiei looked around at the slightly messy room. It wasn't too bad, especially when it was compared to Yusuke's apartment. The mess revolved around her computer (which was on at the moment) and her bed. A beige carpet covered the floor, and sponge-painted blue walls complimented a blue bedspread with dark blue curtains covering the window.

"Have a seat." Tonya gestured towards the folding chair in front of the computer as she sat down on her bed, pulling a large textbook into her lap as she did so. She had allowed the fire demon to enter her room for two reasons. The first one was that he had actually asked, and the second one was that he was strong enough to break down her door. She very much liked her door and wanted to keep it where it was.

The fire demon sat down in the chair she had pointed at, his eyes going to the computer monitor. It was at the main screen. Curious, he put his hand on the mouse and moved it to click on one of the icons.

"Touch and die," the girl said firmly, not even looking up from her book work. "Don't mess with any of my computer files, _comprendes_?"

"What's in here that you're so protective of?" Hiei wanted to know, disliking the order from her. He suddenly remembered something. "Do you have your stories on here?"

A blush stained her cheeks, but she somehow kept her voice calm. "I said, touch and die. Remember that."

He smirked evilly, knowing that he had found a sensitive spot. "Perhaps I should have a look at some of your more recently opened files." He moved the mouse to click on the word pad, but the screen suddenly went black. The girl had turned off the computer.

"There." Tonya unplugged a few things and hit the power button on the surge protector. "That solved that problem."

Sitting back down on her bed, she began to sing with the music, her voice just barely audible over the boombox.

Hiei frowned at her, unamused by her actions with the computer. Eventually, he gave up on glaring at her. She just didn't seem to notice, mainly because she was concentrate hard on the book in her lap.

He slightly shook his head. _'I have a feeling that this girl is going to be very hard to protect.' _

* * *

Grande Dios sobre - Great God above

Madre de Dios - Mother of God

infierno no - Hell no

Urusai - Shut up

mocca-mocca su su - fuck you

Jigoku o ikamasu - Go to Hell

baka - idiot

Nande Kuso? - What the Hell?

koebi - shrimp

idiotas - idiots

kisama - bastard or lord of the donkeys

comprendes? - Do you understand?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"What is with her, Jake?" Yusuke wanted to know as he plopped down on the couch, crossing his arms. He was tempted to pull out a cigarette, but the thought of an angry Tonya kept him from doing so. He didn't want to go flying like Jake and Hiei had. It had looked painful. "I know that you told us she spoke in other languages when she was ticked, but you didn't tell us about her attitude problem."

"Yes, I believe you left that fact out," Kurama added in a soft voice. He had never met anyone quite like Tonya, although he wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing.

"That girl can be scary," Kuwabara stated, putting his two cents in. "She's about as scary as Keiko-san when she's mad."

Jake sighed as Kuwabara stopped paying attention, his mind suddenly on Yukina. "She's normally not this bad, but she's had a big shock. We just turned her world upside down. There's a television show called Yu Yu Hakusho, and it stars all of you. She watched it pretty faithfully until they started playing reruns."

"Actually, she watched it pretty faithfully even after they started playing reruns," Botan stated as she appeared. "Her parents didn't catch her watching it until much later, so they couldn't stop her until after the damage had been done."

"Hey, Botan," Yusuke greeted her. "What's going on?"

"Koenma-sama wanted to know how things are going with Tonya-san," the ferry girl replied. "And I need to talk to her adoptive parents." She looked around the room. "By the way, where are Hiei and Tonya-san?"

"In her room, listening to music. She went postal on us," Genkai's student answered.

"I sent Hiei-san in to keep an eye on her," Jake said. "She's not very happy with any of us, but she did let him in. The rest of us are locked out."

Botan sighed. "I wish her parents had stopped her before she had watched the show. Things would have been much easier if they had."

"Wait a minute, are you saying that Koenma-sama knew that this might happen?" Kuwabara looked slightly dumbstruck. Of course, he usually looked dumbstruck.

"Well, yes," she replied hesitantly as she half-listened to the music that was floating through the room. She immediately dubbed the song as disturbing. "He knows that there's a show, and that it would discredit you guys in her eyes if she ever saw it."

"But she saw it," Yusuke stated.

She nodded, a sad look on her face. "And that's going to make things harder for you guys."

"It doesn't help that she refuses to believe in demons," Kurama commented, partially lost in thought. He needed to come up with some way to make the girl believe, but he had run out of ideas. His proof-his rose whip-hadn't even worked all that well.

Botan turned around. "I'm going to talk to her parents now." She went up the stairs, leaving the men alone.

* * *

Tonya growled, slamming her book shut. "Stupid math." She looked at Hiei. "Do you know anything about calculus?"

He shook his head. "Hn. No. Your silly schools mean nothing to me."

Rolling her eyes, she stood up and left the room with her book, calculator, paper, and pencil in hand.

"Kurama-dono, do you know how to do calculus problems?" she asked the redhead as she placed her things on the small table.

"Yes. I took a calculus class last year," the redhead answered.

Blue eyes lit up with happiness. "Do you think you could help me with this problem? I can't figure out what to do."

"Let me see," he ordered as the other males stared. The girl was talking to them civilly. She hadn't snapped, nor had she given a single one of them a dirty look. It was possible that she was no longer angry, which the men really hoped was the truth.

Kurama began explaining what to do, and Tonya listened closely, taking in every word as she scribbled down notes.

* * *

"I'm sorry," Botan told the two adults, giving a small sigh. "But she's in danger, and as soon as a demon discovers that she has adoptive parents, both of you will be in danger as well. She has to go to the safe house."

Tonya's mother looked down at the ground as her eyes filled with tears. "I can't believe it. It's so soon."

The ferry-girl patted the grown woman on the shoulder. "I'm sure that when everything settles down, you'll be able to see her again. But... right now, we need you to tell your daughter to get her butt in gear and pack. Last I checked, she was refusing to go anywhere with the guys."

The father nodded in understanding. "I'll tell her." Then, he went downstairs.

* * *

After a long argument between Tonya and her father, she ended up giving in and packing her bags. An hour after that, Botan took her to the fully furnished safe house, the boys in tow. Tonya pouted a little most of the way, refusing to talk to anyone. She hated how her life had been turned topsy-turvy all in one day, how in one day her entire life had been ruined. She couldn't go back to school or even contact any of her friends and family until Botan or one of the others said she could. It just wasn't fair!

At the safe house, Jake avoided her, and the other boys followed his example. Botan headed back to the spirit world, leaving them to deal with her on their own. She didn't want to mess with an angry teenage girl either.

Once Tonya was done unpacking, she went into the living room and plopped down on the couch, picking up the remote and turning on the television set a moment later. She channel surfed for a while, finally coming to rest on her favorite show-Yu Yu Hakusho.

Jake came in during the middle of the episode, sitting down in a nearby chair. He didn't say a word, knowing that she would bite his head off if he did. He silently watched the anime with her, not quite able to see why she liked it. He had never really marked her as the type of girl who enjoyed fighting shows or martial arts movies. Chick flicks and Disney movies seemed more her style, but then, she had always enjoyed surprising him.

When she turned off the television set, he turned his head to look at her, waiting to see if she would say anything. She did.

"Jake-kun..." Tonya gave him a shy smile. "Ummm... Do you think that you could... transform into your demon form again?"

"Yeah," Jake replied, feeling a little surprised. He hadn't expected her to say anything like that. "Why?"

She shrugged slightly, not looking angry in the least. "I guess that... I just kinda wanna see you like that again. You looked pretty interesting."

He chuckled, slightly shaking his head. "Alright then." He summoned his spirit energy, using it so he could transform. Soon, he was sitting in the chair with ears and a tail.

"_Kawaii_! Cute!" Tonya clapped her hands, crawling to the edge of the couch so she could reach over and touch his ears. "I can see why Kagome found Inuyasha's ears so fascinating."

She began to rub his ears like she would a cat's, quickly finding out that Jake could purr. It wasn't a normal feline sound though; it sounded more sensual, like it wasn't supposed to be made outside of the bedroom.

Blushing slightly, she drew away, placing her hands in her lap. "Thank you," she said softly. "I appreciate it."

"Are you going to ask Hiei-san to change into his majin form?" Jake asked, grinning mischievously.

Tonya shuddered, violently shaking her head. "Nah. I don't think so. The green skin and eyes all over bother me a little. I like him better in his... more human form." She paused. "However, I would love to see Kurama-dono in his Youko form." She smiled, easily picturing the fox demon with the perfect silver hair and beautiful golden eyes she loved so much.

"I bet you would," he mumbled, sounding a little annoyed.

She just shrugged off his response. "Well, I'm gonna go draw. The TV's all yours." Tonya handed him the remote. "Bye!" With a slight wave, she stood up and left.

Jake just sighed and shook his head. "I'll never understand her." Smiling slightly, he turned on the television set and began channel surfing.

* * *

A few hours later, Tonya came back to the living room to find Jake, Yusuke, and Kuwabara watching television. It appeared to be some kind of action-comedy, which really didn't surprise her.

"Where're Kurama-dono and Hiei-sama?" she inquired, sitting down on the couch next to Yusuke. Jake and Kuwabara were in arm chairs.

"Kurama went home and Hiei is..." Yusuke drifted off. "Actually, I don't know where he is." His tone held no form of concern, which meant that either he trusted the fire demon or he just didn't care. The latter one seemed more likely, considering Yusuke's personality.

Tonya shrugged. "He's probably sitting in a tree somewhere." She paused. "So... why aren't they here? Are you guys gonna go home too?"

Kuwabara shook his head. "Nope. At least two people have to be here to protect you at all times."

"Okay... so that gives Yusuke-san and Jake-kun an excuse for being here," she responded. "What's yours?"

The carrot top flexed his muscles. "I, the Great Kuwabara, am here to protect you."

Tonya just laughed, almost falling to the floor as she clutched at her sides. "Great? Spfft. God, that's a good one. The Great Kuwabara..." Chuckling, she shook her head. "I'm going now before you drag me down to your level of stupidity."

"Hey! You take that back!" Kuwabara retorted as she left the room. He didn't receive a response; Tonya was gone.

Yusuke grinned. "I think she has you pegged pretty accurately."

"Oh, shut up."

* * *

The first week went by slowly, especially for Tonya. She missed her friends, particularly Sari, and her family, of course. She wanted to go back home; however, she was constantly reminded that she couldn't. Of course, she took her anger and depression out on the guys. They still tried to convince her that she was a demon, and she refused to believe them. She got along best with Jake and Kurama, perhaps because Jake was an old friend and Kurama helped her with her homework. For some strange reason or another, she insisted on doing her homework so she could still go to college. The guys didn't quite understand, but they didn't want to debate with her on the subject. She was irritable enough already.

It was the start of the second week that things started to go downhill. Saturday afternoon, Kurama was in the kitchen, preparing lunch (he had found out that Tonya really couldn't cook all that well).

Tonya walked in, watched him for a few minutes, and decided that she was in a good enough mood to offer her assistance. "Would you like some help?" she inquired.

"Yes, that would be very nice," Kurama replied as Tonya walked over, eyeing the objects he had cooking on the stove. While she poked a few steaming food items with a spatula, he noticed something about her. Her scent had changed drastically, and he even knew why.

"So... wha'da ya want me to do?" she asked, setting down the spatula and looking up at the redhead. He didn't respond. "Hello? Is anyone home?" She didn't like him staring at her; it made her uncomfortable. "KURAMA-DONO! Wake up!"

He shook his head, as if banishing whatever thoughts he had been thinking. "Sorry. What were you saying?"

Tonya rolled her eyes and sighed. "_Grande Dios sobre_. What happened to you?" she inquired. "You zoned out on me."

Kurama instantly realized that she didn't know what was going on. "It was nothing," he replied softly, waving his hand in dismissal. "Don't worry about it."

"Okay..." She frowned slightly at him but decided not to press the matter further. She wasn't quite sure how to act around one of her favorite anime characters come to life. Sure, he was polite and was a good cook. He was amazing when it came to helping with her homework or around the house (which was really nice since she hated cleaning the safe house all by herself). Despite all that, she now knew that Sari had described Kurama correctly; he was a bit like a stuffed-shirt.

"I just realized that I don't really need your help at the moment," he stated with an apologetic smile. "Perhaps you wouldn't mind going off and finding something else to do... at least until lunch is ready."

"Fine." Silently grumbling about males who couldn't make up their minds, she wandered back to her room and turned on the radio. She listened for a while, and when one of her favorite songs came on, she smiled. Turning up her boombox as high as it could go, she began to dance.

* * *

Kurama set all the food on the table, sighing as he glanced down the hallway. He could easily hear the music blaring all through the house. Shaking his head, he turned to Hiei who had just walked inside. They were the only two in the safe house at the moment guarding the girl. "Hiei, do you think you could tell Tonya that lunch is ready?"

"Hn." Nodding once, the fire demon followed the music back to the girl's room. He knocked a few times, but she didn't answer. Finally, growling and fed up, he opened the door, not caring if it was rude or not. He had a good idea about what to do with the loud, annoying boombox. Taking his sword to it sounded pretty good to him at the moment.

When Tonya's scent hit him, his thoughts stopped dead, and when he saw what she was doing, they restarted, but they were incredibly different. She was dancing, and quite sexually, her eyes closed as she sang along. Actually, Hiei couldn't hear her, as the music was too loud, but he could see her mouth moving.

Not thinking clearly, he walked up to her and put his hands on her waist. She stopped dancing, surprised at the touch, and then he kissed her.

Tonya took a step back, her heel hitting the wall, unsure of what was going on. Hiei was... kissing her? It just didn't seem right... didn't seem like him. She wanted to talk to him to figure out what was going on, but he didn't give her the chance. He stepped with her, firmly pressing her against the wall. She could feel his entire body from his chest down... his entire body.

That action had pushed her too far. He had no right to do things like that to her. So, when he briefly broke away, Tonya took the time to take a deep breath and fully summon her anger.

A split second after his lips touched hers once again, he was gone, flying across the room and into a nearby wall.

Tonya hit the off button on her radio. "Wha... what the fuck was that?" she sputtered, glaring at him. Who did he think she was, forcing himself upon her like that? She wasn't some stupid slut. Hell, she had actually thought they could become friends... eventually. He was a jerk, but at least he had an honor code to go with his attitude problem.

Hiei shook his head, as if he was trying to clear his thoughts. "Go away," he ordered gruffly.

Startled, she stared at him. "What?" '_This is my room,_' she thought, mentally frowning. _'Who is he to order me out of my room?' _

"Go away," the fire demon repeated, a strange look in his red eyes.

Not liking how he was looking at her, she left.

* * *

Lunch passed quickly enough, although Hiei didn't show back up. Tonya assumed that he had snuck out through her bedroom window so he wouldn't have to explain his actions. Just in case he was still in her room, she helped Kurama clean up, noticing that he seemed to be concentrating hard on something the entire time. Against her better judgment, she shrugged it off, going out into the living room to watch some television.

The rest of the afternoon was uneventful, as was dinner, although Kurama still acted a little strange. Hiei didn't reappear, which worried Tonya a little. What had happened with him? Had he gone temporarily insane? Had that been a shape shifter in Hiei's form? Did shape shifters exist?

Tonya shook her head to ward off those thoughts. _'I'm being stupid. Hiei-sama just probably went temporarily insane. That, or it was a dare. I could see one of the guys daring him to kiss me or something. If they invoked his anger or pride, he'd do just about anything.' _

Around eight at night, Jake and Kuwabara appeared with bags. They were her nighttime guards, although Yusuke was usually with them.

"Yo, where's the worst punk in ningenkai?" Tonya asked Jake and the carrot top. The worst punk in ningenkai was her nickname for Yusuke.

"His father wanted him for something. He should be here tomorrow morning," Kuwabara answered.

"Oh." She shrugged. "Raizen, right?"

"Huh?" Kuwabara stared at her.

"That's his father's name, right? It's Raizen?" she clarified, slightly leaning over the back of the couch so she could talk to the guys.

He nodded. "Yeah, but how'd you know?"

Tonya smiled evilly. "My secret." _'Does he not know that I watched a show that starred him and all the other members of the Reikai Tantei? Of course, I didn't get to see the episodes that went past the Sensui saga, but that's okay.' _

"Sure. Whatever." Kuwabara shrugged. "So, where's the shorty? Did he skip out early?"

Kurama walked into the living room. "No. He's nearby. I can sense his energy."

Without warning, Tonya stood up and hit the carrot top on the head. "Don't call him short. I'm the nearly same height as him." She paused. "I'm almost the same height as Hiei-sama... Shit. How fucking short am I?"

Kuwabara laughed, and Kurama chuckled. "I do not know," the redhead replied, smiling in amusement.

It was then she noticed that Jake hadn't said a word yet. She turned to look at him, finding him staring at her, a heated look in his eyes. _'Ooookay. This is turning out to be the strangest day I have ever had.' _

"Since you two are here, I am going to leave. I have some things to get done at home," Kurama stated. "I will see you tomorrow afternoon, Tonya-san."

"Bye, Kurama-dono!" Smiling, she waved at him, forgetting about Jake for a brief moment.

Kurama returned the gesture and left.

Kuwabara dropped his bag into a chair. "I'm starved."

"There are leftovers in the kitchen. Since Hiei-sama didn't eat with us, we have plenty of food left," Tonya informed him. "Help yourself." One of the good things about being in a safe house was she didn't have to buy food or pay the bills. Koenma was kindly doing all of that for her. Once a week, one of the guys would bring in a couple sacks of groceries, which she enjoyed, since they usually brought her chocolate.

"Great." Grinning, he left, obviously heading for the kitchen.

With no one left to distract her, Tonya went up to Jake, who hadn't moved more than two feet away from the front door. "Are you okay?" she asked, stopping just two feet away from him.

The words were barely out of her mouth before she found his lips on hers, his arms wrapping around her. She relaxed a little in his grasp, kissing him back. Hiei's kiss had been unexpected, just like Jake's, but she had known Jake longer. Also, she had liked him during camp, and she still liked him... maybe even loved him. She didn't know what her feelings were exactly, but she knew that she enjoyed the kissing.

Jake was a pretty good kisser too, but when she felt his hands move to her stomach and attempt to unbutton her pants, her anger level soared. An instant later, Jake went flying into the closed front door, the loud bang bringing Kuwabara into the room.

The carrot top found a seething Tonya standing a few feet away from Jake, who was on the ground and rubbing his head.

"What just happened?"

Tonya continued to glare at Jake as she answered Kuwabara. "Jake-kun overstepped his boundaries. He invaded my bubble."

"He did what?" The bearer of the spirit sword frowned at the other male. "What do you think you're doing, Jake, taking advantage of a girl? What kind of man are you?"

When Jake didn't respond, the auburn-haired female shook her head in disgust and walked off. He had merely stared at her, which had royally ticked her off.

As soon as Tonya was gone, Jake shook his head and sat down in a chair, sighing in relief. "I don't know what happened," he stated, rubbing his temples. "It was so strange... She smelled different."

Kuwabara raised his eyebrows at that. "Huh?"

* * *

Grande Dios sobre - Great God above

Kawaii - Cute


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Tonya was sitting on her bed, reading, when she heard a knock on her door. Sticking a bookmark between the pages of the novel, she stood up and answered the door, and she was surprised to find Botan there.

"Um... hi," the young girl said. She wasn't quite sure what to do. After all, the grim reaper was standing right outside her bedroom.

Botan smiled nervously, biting her bottom lip. She had bad news to report, and she wasn't exactly sure how to tell Tonya about it. "Hello, Tonya-chan." After meeting Tonya, she had switched to from san to chan, mainly because Tonya used the chan after her name.

"No offense, but why are you here? Can I go home now?" Tonya inquired hopefully. 'That would be great if I could go home,' she thought, smiling.

The ferry-girl shook her head. "No, sorry, but I do have something to tell you... and the guys."

Tonya's face fell. She didn't get to go home. "Only Jake-kun and Kuwabara-san are here," the auburn-haired girl stated.

Botan sighed. "I know, and you'll just have to tell the other guys tomorrow."

"Okay..." Tonya shrugged, deciding to not worry about whatever was happening. After all, it wasn't like she could do anything about it. "Let's go out into the living room then."

The two girls filed into the living room, Tonya making sure to stay as far away from Jake as she could. She didn't quite trust him to keep his hands to himself.

"Hey, Botan!" Kuwabara greeted her. "Whacha doing here?"

"I have something to tell you guys," Botan replied. "You already know that Tonya-chan is a demon... more specifically, a quarter cat demon."

"What's the rest of me then?" the blue-eyed girl wanted to know. She didn't believe she was a demon, but she was still curious.

"A fourth human and half kitsune," the ferry-girl answered. "But it's the cat demon part that's going to cause problems."

Tonya leaned back against the wall, crossing her arms out of habit. "Okay... Would you mind going a little more in depth?"

"To be blunt, you went into heat today," Botan stated.

"She what?" Kuwabara looked completely confused.

"She went into heat," she repeated, tugging on a lock of her blue hair. It was a nervous gesture, one that made her look younger than she really was.

"And that means what exactly?" Tonya asked.

Botan took a deep breath. "Your body's trying to attract a mate, so it's putting off a scent that all male demons can and will react to, sometimes without knowing it."

Kuwabara started laughing. "That's the silliest thing I've ever heard."

Tonya almost voiced her agreement but shut her mouth when she glanced at Jake. He was staring at her again, his whole body tense. Something was wrong with him. "I'm not so sure," she said.

"Have any of the guys acted... strange today?" Botan wanted to know.

The other girl nodded. "Hell yeah. Hiei-sama kissed me right before lunch."

Kuwabara fell off of the couch. "The shrimp did what?"

Botan sighed, ignoring the bearer of the spirit sword. "That was to be expected."

Tonya didn't want to admit it, but she had to accept the fact that she was a demon. It was the only logical explanation. "So... why didn't you tell me this sooner? It would have been REALLY helpful. I ended up sending both Hiei-sama and Jake-kun into the walls today."

"You sent Hiei flying because he kissed you? That seems a little extreme," Botan commented. Tonya seemed like someone easy going who would sooner tell the guys to stop than resort to violence.

"Oh... he didn't go flying for kissing me. He got it for pinning me against the wall," Tonya replied.

Kuwabara fell down again. "He pinned you? The shrimp pinned you?"

The girls ignored him.

"Hiei and Kurama shouldn't have as much trouble as Jake-san and Yusuke. They're older and have most likely been around other females in heat," Botan informed her.

"Yusuke-san?" Tonya repeated. "Yusuke-san? You've got to be joking!" She shuddered. "Kami... scary."

Jake tried to relax as the three continued to talk, but he just couldn't seem to. Tonya's scent was driving him nuts, making him think things he normally wouldn't. He felt almost drunk on her presence, as well as uptight. He could easily hear and understand what was going on and said, but it took all of his will power not to go over to her and kiss her. He wanted to touch her so badly, and he couldn't help but think of the kiss she had returned. Of course, he hated the fact that Hiei had kissed her, absolutely hated it.

Praying that he could control himself, he dug his fingernails into his palms. _'I won't jump Tonya. I won't jump Tonya.' _

"So, Botan-chan, what am I supposed to do? Wait this out?" Tonya asked.

"Actually... this won't end until you choose a mate," Botan replied.

"WHAT?" Tonya's eyes went wide. "Oh, shit no. There is no way..." She shook her head. "What the fuck am I supposed to do with four male demons protecting me while I'm in heat?"

"Choose one, of course," she answered calmly. "It won't hurt them to settle down."

"This oughta be good," Kuwabara commented softly. "I wonder who she'll choose."

_'He makes it sound like this is some kind of game he's betting on,' _Tonya thought, scowling. "Damn. Shit. Fuck it all. There is no way I'm gonna do that! I don't want to settle down. I don't want a mate!" Tonya shouted. She wanted to stay single, mainly because she was so independent. She was used to doing what she wanted, when she wanted without having to answer to any guy. "I'm too young for one of those! I wasn't planning on getting married or anything for years."

Jake took one step towards the quarter cat demon. While his brain had easily picked up every word she had said, his body had only concentrated on two words: Fuck and mate. He was quickly losing his will to stay away.

Tonya shook her head violently, growling softly. "Damn it! I won't pick a fucking mate! I won't!"

After hearing those two words again, Jake went straight for Tonya, moving as fast as he could, which was faster than she could see. Before the auburn-haired girl knew it, Jake was French kissing her, his hands wandering up the front of her shirt.

A second later, the aqua-eyed boy went flying back and hit a wall, groaning as he sunk to the floor. _'That hurt,' _he thought. _'But it was worth it.' _

Tonya sighed, running a hand through her hair in frustration as Kuwabara looked on in shock. "Botan-chan, please tell me that you have some good news amongst all of this mess?" she pleaded, blue eyes focusing on the grim reaper. She really needed some good news.

"Well... after a little while, the boys will adjust to your new scent, making it harder for you to attract them," the ferry-girl replied.

"Thank you, Kami!" the young female whispered firmly, clasping her hands in a praying position.

"But not that much harder. If you kiss any one of them, they won't fight you," Botan added.

Sighing, Tonya began to walk away. "Great. Just great." She paused just long enough to say a few last things. "I'm going to bed now. Good night. My door will be locked." With that said, she left Botan and the two boys to their own devices.

* * *

Sometime around ten in the morning, Tonya crawled out of bed and went to the bathroom, a change of clothes and her boombox in hand. She loved the bathroom (even though it was the only bathroom in the large safe house), mainly because it was huge and fancy with a small whirlpool tub and a large shower stall. A toilet and a black marble-top sink were close by. Yawning, she plugged in her boombox and pushed play, quickly moving to turn on the water in the bathtub. Normally, she was a shower person, but after dealing with the guys, she felt she had earned a relaxing bath.

An hour later, she came out of the bathroom wearing a pair of jeans and a light blue t-shirt. After putting her boombox back in her room and her clothes in the laundry room, she went into the living room, intent on watching a little television. She found Kurama and Hiei in there. The redhead was on the couch, and the fire demon was sitting in the windowsill.

"Hey! Mornin'!" Tonya said brightly.

"Morning?" Kurama repeated. "It's almost the afternoon."

She shrugged. "So?" She sat down in one of the armchairs, suddenly remembering what she needed to tell them, which caused her to blush. "Hiei-sama... Kurama-dono... Botan-chan was here yesterday."

"And what's the big deal about that?" Hiei inquired gruffly. "The ditz was probably just here to gossip."

Tonya rolled her eyes. "She was here because she had something very important to tell everyone, and since you guys weren't around last night, I get to tell you." She paused just long enough to take a deep, relaxing breath. "She said that I went into heat yesterday."

"I know," Kurama stated. "And I believe Hiei does as well." The koorime nodded.

"Okay then... do either of you have any idea how I'm supposed to deal with it?" she asked. "'Cause I sure don't."

"What did Botan suggest?" the kitsune wanted to know.

Tonya sighed. "She said that I was supposed to pick a mate." She glared at the two males. "And I am most certainly NOT going to do that. I happen to like being single." She crossed her arms stubbornly, showing them with her body that she wasn't going to budge in the slightest.

"I guess the only thing you can do is keep your distance," Kurama suggested logically. "I believe as long as don't touch Hiei or myself, we'll be fine. For Jake and Yusuke, I would suggest you make sure you're never in the same room as them."

"Yippee," she responded sarcastically. "Joys. That's just how I want to spend my time, running away from the guys who are supposed to be protecting me!"

"It can't be helped," the redhead told her, lightly shrugging his shoulders as his voice remained calm. "There's nothing anyone can do."

Tonya hung her head, closing her eyes. God, how she wanted to cry. "This is going to be one long stay in this stupid safe house."

* * *

Tonya was sitting on the living room couch, watching a movie, when Yusuke, Jake, and Kuwabara arrived. She wasn't even given a chance to stand up before Yusuke was on her, pressing her into the couch, his lips on hers. Before anyone knew it, the son of Raizen found himself flying to the other side of the room, banging into the wall.

Sighing sadly, she got up and ran to her room, glancing back just long enough to make sure the guys weren't following her.

* * *

It took two weeks for Jake and Yusuke to become accustomed enough to her scent that they could be in the same room without her being jumped. As for Hiei and Kurama, they seemed to adjust as well, becoming increasingly comfortable around her.

During her normal homework help sessions, Kurama did kiss her a few times, but he always gained control of himself before he pushed his luck too much and ended up flying across the room. Hiei kept his distance until Tonya borrowed his sword so she could have a good look at it and swing it around for a while. Needless to say, he was not happy with her, but he brought Tonya her own sword the next day to keep her from messing with his again.

Yusuke acted like his normal punk self, but he made sure to keep at least five feet between him and Tonya at all times. He did not want to have a repeat of the last accident. He wasn't the most intelligent guy, but he wasn't stupid either. Jake, on the other hand, interacted more and more with Tonya as he learned how to control himself better (he was thrown into walls quite a few times until he learned how to keep his hands to himself), and during the third week he surprised her by hugging her without doing anything she didn't like.

At the end of her fourth week after going into heat, Tonya brought all her drawing supplies out into the living room, setting them down next to her favorite reclining armchair (which she called hers, of course). She then went over to the television and began rooting through all the movies that were in a box next to it. Koenma had been smart enough to realize that it was a good idea to find multiple ways to entertain a teenage girl, just in case.

Finally picking one, she went over to the television and turned it on. That seemed to signal all the guys to come into the living room. For some reason, Kurama and Hiei had stuck around after the other three males had arrived, not that she was complaining. She found the arguments between Hiei and Kuwabara absolutely hilarious.

Before she could even stick in the movie, all five boys came into the room. Hiei sat in one armchair, while Kurama claimed Tonya's favorite. Yusuke, Jake, and Kuwabara plopped down on the couch.

"So, what are we watching?" Yusuke inquired. "Please tell me it's not a romance."

Tonya snorted. "Since when have you known me to watch romance movies? You've known me for how long, and you're still thinking that I'm going to stick in some mushy-gushy movie? I'm sticking in Rush Hour 2."

"Cool. I always liked that movie," Jake commented.

"I've never seen it," Kuwabara stated. Of course, Jake and Yusuke had to lecture the carrot top for not watching such a great movie.

Rolling her eyes, she put the movie in and hit play, going back over to her favorite armchair. "You're in my spot," she informed Kurama, frowning at him as the previews began to play. She was a possessive person by nature when it came to certain things, and she preferred people to not mess with whatever she claimed as hers.

"I did not know you had it saved," the redhead replied, a small smile on his face. He was teasing her.

Tonya sighed, not really in the mood to mess around with forcing him to give back her chair. It just wasn't worth it. "Oh well." She sat down on the floor right in front of the armchair as Yusuke got up and turned off the lights.

"If this is your spot, then I don't see why we both can't sit here," Kurama commented, reaching down and lifting her into his lap. "There." His arms went around her waist as Yusuke sat back down.

Tonya waited for him to do something else, but he didn't. The kitsune seemed perfectly content just to hold her. "I wanted to draw though, and it's kinda hard to do that with the lights off and someone's arms wrapped around me."

"Do you always have to draw during a movie?" Kuwabara asked.

"He does have a point. It wouldn't kill you to simply sit back and enjoy the show for once," Jake added.

She sighed in defeat. "Fine. You guys win." Not knowing what else to do, she leaned back against Kurama's chest, laying her arms on top of his. Then, she yawned.

Right before the actual movie began to play, Kurama leaned the chair completely back so that it was flat like a bed, spinning the recliner so he could look sideways and still see the screen. "Go to sleep if you like."

Tonya blinked a few times. "I'm alright, but don't you find this a little uncomfortable?"

"No," he replied.

"Will you two be quiet!" Yusuke snapped.

"Yeah! The movie's started!" Kuwabara stated, sounding annoyed.

"Would you mind if I moved around a little?" Tonya whispered. "I'm uncomfortable."

Kurama shook his head. "Not at all. Move around all you like," he whispered back.

Tonya wiggled around until she was lying on her stomach, her head resting right underneath Kurama's chin. She placed her hands palms down on his chest, a small smile on her face. _'I'm snuggling with Kurama-dono. How unusual. After all the stories I've written, I never thought I'd actually get to do it. This is almost funny. Too bad I don't have a computer here. I'll have to have Botan-chan talk to Koenma-sama about that. I do have my disks with all my stories on them with me, strangely enough.' _

About halfway through the movie, Tonya felt strong hands move her up a little, bringing her face to face with Kurama. She stared into his green eyes for a moment, wondering what he was thinking. Then, he softly kissed her, the action a mere brush of lips. When she closed her eyes, Kurama took that as an invitation, kissing her again.

It had been years since he had last kissed a female demon, and since Tonya was in heat, she was just all the more tempting. His demon side wanted to claim her as his, mainly because she smelled so inviting, but his human half held him back and made him act like a gentleman, making sure he went no farther than kissing. Tongue, however, was fair game, and he quickly found out that if he traced Tonya's lips with his tongue, she would open her mouth for him.

Jake glanced over at Tonya, finding her kissing Kurama. The sight made his blood boil. He had barely been able to tolerate seeing her on the kitsune's lap, but now that they were making out, he didn't think he could take it anymore. At the moment, he had two choices: he could leave the room, or he could separate the two. He decided to go with the latter option rather than the former one.

He went over and tapped both demons on the shoulders, which effectively broke them up. Kurama just glared at him, while Tonya looked up and blushed like mad, the color in her cheeks apparent even in the dark. "Would you mind if I stole her from you for a little while?"

"Why don't you ask Tonya-chan?" Kurama suggested, tone calm but distant despite the friendlier honorific he had attached to her name. The female took that to mean he wasn't happy. The look in his green eyes confirmed her guess.

Jake bristled slightly at that. He didn't like how Kurama had attached the chan to the end of her name. _'Two can play at that game,' _he thought. "Tonya-chan, would you mind if I stole you from Kurama-san?" he inquired, not sure how she would answer. He remembered all her stories in which a character she had created wormed her way into Kurama's heart. He knew she liked the redhead, and he didn't like that. During camp, she had admitted her feelings for him, and he hadn't said a word back to her. He was regretting his lack of response now, especially since she seemed so damn taken with Kurama.

Tonya stared up at Jake and realized that she didn't quite know what to say. The sad thing was, she liked both Jake and Kurama (and Hiei as well, but not nearly as much as the other two); however, she trusted Kurama a little more, mainly because she knew the kitsune could control himself better. Jake was a great guy, but he was also a young demon. Still...

"I guess not," she replied after a few moments, gently climbing off of Kurama, expression wary. She went over to the couch, allowing Jake to pull her into his lap. He simply held her for about five minutes before kissing her neck and then her lips. She kissed him back, feeling relieved when his hands didn't wander in the slightest. She was thrilled when he allowed her to pull away from the kissing. Smiling, she snuggled up against him, her head on his shoulder. It was a comfortable position, and she soon found herself drifting off to sleep.

* * *

When the movie finished, Jake looked down at Tonya. "She's dead asleep."

"So's Kuwabara," Yusuke added. "And once he's asleep, there's no way to wake him up." He sighed in aggravation.

"That's great and all, but what do we do with Tonya-chan?" the aqua-eyed boy wanted to know, running a hand through his short black hair.

"Put her in her bed, of course," the raven-haired punk replied.

Jake nodded his head in understanding. "I guess that is the only choice."

Frowning, Kurama stood up and stopped Jake from going anywhere with the girl. "I mean no offense, but I don't believe it would be wise for you to take the girl back there. After all, her scent is strongest in her room."

"Well, I don't think you should take her back there either," the teenage boy retorted.

Kurama looked at Yusuke, but Genkai's student just shook his head. "I don't think so. I don't even trust myself to carry her."

Jake scowled at the redhead. "If I can't take her, and neither can you or Yusuke-san, what are we supposed to do with her? Kuwabara-san's got most of the couch."

"Let Hiei take her to her room," the kitsune suggested.

The fire demon stood up and shook his head. "No."

"Then who's going to do it?" Kurama calmly retorted.

"I don't care, but I won't do it," Hiei shot back.

"C'mon. It wouldn't kill you," Jake pitched in.

Hiei glared at them. "No."

"We can't leave Tonya out here; there's no place to put her, so why don't you take her back to her room?" Kurama inquired.

"No."

"Someone has to do something with her," Jake stated.

"I don't care. I'm not taking her to bed," the fire demon replied firmly. He was not going to budge at all in his resolve. Someone else could take the girl to bed. "I could care less about what you do with the onna."

"Hiei..." Kurama began.

"No."

* * *

Hiei sighed sadly as he carried Tonya back to her room. _'How'd he rope me into doing this? I don't understand at all.' _Whether he liked it or not, he had to put her to bed. So, he planned on dumping her on the mattress and fleeing out the window.

Nodding his head at his plan, the fire demon went into Tonya's bedroom, shutting the door behind him. Instantly, he was fully surrounded by her thick, tantalizing, warm scent. Trying to concentrate, he pulled the covers down and laid her on the mattress. He almost covered her back up, but her bed looked so inviting, as did she. Her auburn hair looked so soft spread out over the pillow, and she looked like a sweet angel at the moment, her breaths smooth and even.

Not thinking clearly, Hiei climbed into the bed, instinctively drawing Tonya close to him. He brought her back flat against his chest and buried his nose in her hair, breathing in her enticing scent. Before he realized it, he was fast asleep in the exact place he was not supposed to be.

* * *

"Where's Hiei-san?" Jake wondered. It was ten minutes since the fire demon had disappeared with the girl, and he was beginning to worry. A part of him was telling him that something was wrong, he just wasn't sure what.

"He's probably camped out in a tree right outside of Tonya-chan's room, just like he usually is when he has night duty," Kurama replied. "I can sense him in that general area."

"Okay," the dark-skinned youth responded, feeling a little bit better. Still, he hated how Kurama kept using the chan when it came to Tonya. Kurama had no right to call her that, especially since he hadn't known her for all that long; yet, Tonya let him, simply accepting whatever he called her.

With the matter of Hiei settled, Yusuke changed the subject. "Who wants to be the first to watch for the demon that sent the nice little note?"

Jake volunteered, so the other two went to bed.

* * *

onna - woman


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Jake was standing in the kitchen, bouncing a bouncy ball, as Kurama finished preparing lunch. Yusuke was asleep, mainly because he had taken the final watch, and Kuwabara was watching television. "I can't believe Tonya-chan's still asleep," the dark-haired male commented. "She never slept this late at camp."

"Could she have?" Kurama inquired.

Jake shook his head. "No."

"Well, there you go. That explains why she's still in bed," the redhead responded.

The other male shrugged. "She could just be staying in her room to draw or something. That wouldn't surprise me."

"Alright then, would you mind telling her lunch is ready?" Kurama asked, gesturing toward Tonya's room. "I'll tell Kuwabara-kun."

Jake nodded. "Sure. I'll just shout and knock. That should work." He walked down the hallway and banged on Tonya's door. "Hey! Lunch time!"

"I'll be there in a sec," she shouted back, sounding half asleep. Jake turned around and froze when Tonya shouted again. "Hiei-sama! Get out of my bed!"

"What the fuck?" the cat demon exclaimed, barging into her room just in time to see Hiei go flying into the wall. Tonya was sitting on the bed, fully dressed in her clothes from yesterday and obviously fuming. He could sense her spirit energy crackling through the room, the power completely invisible to his eyes.

"Get out of my room now!" Tonya screamed, pointing at the door. And instant later, Hiei was gone, not that Jake could blame him for leaving so fast. The girl was a little scary when she was mad.

She quickly calmed after the fire demon left, noticing Jake for the first time. "Oh, hey. I didn't see you there." She began to climb out of bed.

Her scent finally getting to him, Jake walked over and sat down beside her on the mattress. Without saying a word, he pulled her into his lap. His hands on her hips, he kissed her, and Tonya let him. She even kissed him back, her fingers intertwining behind his neck. He allowed his hands to wander to her thighs, parting them so he could pull her closer. He wanted to touch as much of her body as he could, and he planned on having what he wanted.

Tonya was so busy concentrating on his mouth that she didn't notice what else he was doing; however, she easily noticed it when he laid her on the bed, quickly covering her body with his. Tonya turned her head to the side, breaking away from the kiss.

Jake just pressed his lips to her neck, slowly working his way down to her shoulder. Her scent twisted around him, and he couldn't help but give into his hunger. He wanted... almost needed to kiss and touch her, and she didn't seem to be fighting him.

"Get off of me," she ordered, trying to push him away; she failed, and Jake just ignored her words. "Now, Jake-kun!" He still didn't move, merely pressed down harder on her. "Dammit!" As her anger soared, so did Jake. He flew up into the ceiling, quickly falling down on the bed next to Tonya. While he groaned in pain, she raced out of the room.

* * *

After lunch, Tonya changed into clean clothes and then decided to go outside. She needed a break from the guys, especially Jake. Things were becoming too tense for her liking, and she felt that some fresh air and exercise would do her some good.

Humming softly to herself, she went to the hall closet to get a light jacket. It was spring, but the breeze made it chilly enough that she liked to have something over her t-shirt.

As Tonya was getting her jacket off of the hanger, she felt someone come up behind her. She turned around and came face to face with Jake. "Hey," she said, a little wary of him. She wasn't sure if letting him so close to her was a good idea. After all, the incident from before lunch was still on her mind.

"I'm just grabbing a coat. I'm gonna go into town for a while... get some groceries," he informed her. "We're running low on a few things."

"Oh, okay." She paused. "Could you pick me up some chocolate?"

"Sure," Jake replied almost instantly.

"Thanks!" Tonya gave him a kiss on the cheek, smiling at him afterwards. "You're sweet."

Before she knew it, Jake had pushed her into the closet and shut the door behind him. She was trapped... trapped in a closet with a male demon that was susceptible to her scent. Just great.

"Jake-kun, what are you do-" Tonya was cut off by Jake's lips on hers. Soon, he was pressing her against the wall of the closet, his hands cupping her face. His fingers slowly wandered down her neck and shoulders, finally ending up at her waist. Then, Jake promptly sent his hands up the front of her shirt.

Tonya struggled as best as she could, realizing that her power really wouldn't work in a closet. There just wasn't enough space. Unfortunately, she wasn't strong enough to push Jake away, so she had to think of something else to do to make him stop.

Not quite sure what to do, she slapped him. Jake took a small step back after that, fingering his cheek. Tonya used that time to open the door and slip out of the closet, grabbing her jacket on the way out.

* * *

Tonya went outside with her sword, watching Jake leave in his beat-up truck a while later. _'He probably needed a break as well,' _she thought, swinging her sword at an imaginary opponent.

Before she could swing a second time, Hiei appeared. "You'll end up cutting off your own head if you keep doing that," he commented.

"Well, how do I swing this thing and not cut off my head?" Tonya inquired.

"Like this." Hiei moved her hands on the hilt until he was satisfied, and then he demonstrated (with his own sword) what she was supposed to do.

Tonya caught on quickly, swinging her sword correctly. Unfortunately she misjudged the distance between herself and the fire demon. Hiei barely dodged the blade.

"And if you keep that up, you'll cut off my head," he stated, glaring at her.

Tonya smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Hiei-sama. I wasn't trying to hurt you, I swear it!"

Hiei shook his head and chuckled, surprising the female. "Don't worry about it."

"Okay... that was just wrong, because last time I checked, you didn't laugh. You're either sick or insane," she responded, reaching out to feel his forehead. He felt normal. "You've gone insane." She paused. "That, or you're not Hiei-sama." She studied him, but she couldn't find anything about him that seemed unusual.

"Stop being stupid," he snapped. "I am Hiei, and I'm not insane."

Tonya briefly hugged him, smiling brightly. "Yea! You're back to your normal self." She paused. "Well, thanks for the lesson. I'm gonna go inside now." While Hiei watched her, she did just that.

* * *

Tonya walked into the kitchen, finding Kurama putting dishes into the sink and filling it with water. "Want some help, Kurama-dono?" she inquired politely, coming up beside him.

He nodded. "I'll wash, and you can dry," he replied, handing her a towel.

She accepted it, smiling. "Alrighty." She patiently waited as Kurama began washing dishes, rising them off before handing them to her. She dried a few, her eyes drifting around the room out of boredom. Eventually, her eyes landed on Kurama. She watched his red hair, admiring how beautiful it was. Of course, she knew that his youko form was even more beautiful.

Her eyes lit up as a thought hit her. "Hey, Kurama-dono, can you change into your Youko form? I've always wanted to see it. Please?" she pleaded, setting down the towel.

Kurama shook his head, wiping off his hands. "No, I don't think that would be a good idea."

"Please?" she begged. "I'd love you forever!" She gave him a quick hug, her eyes wide and pleading.

He sighed, the action causing him to give in. While he could resist her scent, he couldn't deny her anything whenever she touched him. "Very well. If that is what you wish." He had learned a little while back how to take his Youko form whenever he willed it, so he demonstrated that ability to her.

Tonya watched his hair lengthen and turn silver, the beautifully perfect strands flowing down almost to his waist as silver fox ears poked out. Kurama became taller, his outfit changing to the white tunic and pants she was used to seeing on the fox youkai. Finally, his tail appeared, swishing behind him.

She stared up at him with wide eyes, finding him almost overwhelming. It was no wonder so many people adored the fox demon. He looked absolutely perfect as well as the physical form of complete grace. "Youko-dono... wow..." she whispered, standing on tip-toe to try to touch his ears. She couldn't quite reach, causing the kitsune to laugh. "Ha-ha," she mumbled sarcastically, climbing onto the kitchen countertop just so she could reach the top of his head.

Youko watched her with interest, his golden gaze intense. He had a demoness in heat right in front of him, one that he wanted to kiss, but that didn't mean he couldn't take his time. He enjoyed playing with his prey a little, although she wasn't the kind of prey he would kill.

Giggling, Tonya reached out and began to rub his ears, listening to the rumbling Youko made. The sound was somewhere between a soft growl and a purr, but it was made too deep in the chest to be a purr and it was too pleasant to be called a growl. _'A rumbling in his throat then?' _she mused as she continued to rub his ears. "So soft, so _kawaii_, so beautiful," she breathed.

He smiled arrogantly at her, enjoying her reaction. Of course, her actions were driving him up the wall. While his ears weren't as sensitive as a cat demon's ears, they were a slightly erogenous area for him. Soon he would kiss her... but not just yet. He wanted to wait a little bit more.

Tonya hopped down from the countertop, going behind youko to pet his tail. She gently buried her hands in the long, silky fur, a smile on her face. "Soft..." she commented quietly before coming back around to face Youko. "Gorgeous eyes," she whispered, staring up into his golden orbs. "I love their color."

"Good." Without any warning, Youko swept her up into his arms, possessively pressing his lips to hers. She slipped her arms around his neck as his tongue began to explore her mouth, delicately touching her own tongue.

She could feel as well as hear the rumbling Youko made as they continued to kiss, her hands playing with his silky hair at the nape of her neck. He was an even better kisser than Kurama, and he was incredibly skilled with his tongue. She wasn't sure if she ever wanted him to stop because he was that good. No one had ever kissed her so passionately before, and she couldn't help but fully relax in his strong grasp.

After a few moments, Youko released her, leaving her breathless. He smirked, absolutely loving the dazed look on her face. "Well, I'm done," he stated, looking pleased with himself.

Then, suddenly, Kurama was standing there in his normal Chinese outfit, his green eyes fixated on the girl. "Are you alright?"

Tonya mentally shook herself out of her daze and nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little surprised, that's all," she answered with a smile. "Thanks for showing me your demon form. I really appreciate it." She gave him a quick hug, still smiling.

"You are most welcome," the redhead responded gently, happy that she was unharmed. He hadn't quite been sure what his youkai half would do to her. After all, Youko had been all too eager to come out and give kissing the girl a try.

"Now, how about we finish with these dishes, Kurama-dono?" she suggested. "I'm sure they're not going to wash and dry themselves."

Kurama chuckled. "No, that they will not do," he agreed, beginning to scrub at a plate.

Tonya went back to drying. Soon, they were both talking and laughing like good friends.

* * *

Sari was at Wal-Mart, just shopping around to relieve her boredom and stress. For almost two months she had been trying to find Tonya, without any success. She was almost ready to give up. Her friend had disappeared the day Jake had appeared, which seemed a little suspicious in her mind. Well, it would have if Jake had disappeared as well; however, he still attended school. He did miss days now and then or came in late, but that wasn't a big deal. The strangest thing was that Tonya's parents didn't know where she was, but they insisted that she wasn't missing. That was what really bothered Sari.

She sighed and began to walk down the candy aisle, spotting Jake not all that far away. He had a cart filled with different kinds of food-pasta noodles, cereal, fruit, vegetables, and canned food. He was facing away from her, looking at the candy.

"Tonya-chan and her chocolate," he stated softly, but Sari heard him. "I can't believe I'm buying her more chocolate. She doesn't need any more sugar."

Frowning, Sari left her cart where it was and followed Jake to the cash register and then out the door. He obviously knew where her friend was, and Sari was going to follow him to see if he would lead her to Tonya.

* * *

Tonya was still helping Kurama wash dishes when Kuwabara shouted that Jake was back. Yusuke was quick to join in.

"And Koenma's going to have a nice little talk with him later about what he's supposed to buy and what he can't," Genkai's student commented. "He bought a new car."

"He what?" Giggling, Tonya set down her washcloth and headed for the living room.

"He bought a new car. It's a purplish-silver mustang, which is kind of a girlish color, but it still looks pretty cool," Yusuke replied.

"Purplish-silver?" Tonya repeated, blue eyes becoming wide. "That's not Jake-kun's new car; that's Sari-chan's vehicle!" Smiling, she went straight for the door.

* * *

"Put me down!" Sari shouted, kicking and pounding on the man's back. The instant she had pulled into the gravel driveway and gotten out of her car, a familiar-looking man dressed all in black with red eyes and black hair had approached her, looked her over once, and then thrown her over his shoulder. Jake was nearby, but he wasn't doing a thing to help her. He was just letting the man carry her away. "Damn you! Put me down!"

"Hiei-sama!" Tonya exclaimed, slamming the front door closed behind her as she raced outside. "Drop my friend right now!"

"Tonya-chan?" Sari said, sounding surprised. Her friend was running out of the large house, looking perfectly fine. She was beyond surprised at this development.

"Hn." Hiei did exactly what Tonya wanted him to do—he dropped Sari.

Scowling and furious at such rude behavior, Sari kicked at a rather sensitive part of the man's anatomy. Before her foot could hit anything, the man in all black grabbed it.

"Don't even think about it," he ordered, glaring down at her.

"Too late," she snapped back, narrowing her teal eyes at him. She attempted to pull her foot out of his grasp, but he wouldn't let go. So, she changed tactics, kicking her foot at his stomach. Somehow, she surprised him and knocked him to the ground.

"Sari-chan! Hiei-sama! Enough!" Tonya shouted, coming up to stand between the two of them. "You don't need to fight." The fire demon just stood up and scowled, crossing his arms over his chest.

Sari stood up at stared at her friend. "Have you been here the entire time?" she inquired.

The auburn-haired girl nodded. "Yeah, unfortunately."

Sari finally realized why the man in all black looked so familiar to her. He looked exactly like Hiei from that show Tonya had loved to watch so much. "You mean to tell me, that you've been hiding out here for almost two months just so you could play a joke on me?" she exclaimed, pointing at Hiei.

"Huh?" Tonya frowned. "What are you talking a-" She cut herself off, realizing what her friend was talking about. "Ohhhh... You think that... Oh my."

"Yeah, oh my," she repeated in a deadly tone. The look she gave Tonya could have made flowers wilt. "You are so dead, because the joke wasn't funny!"

"It wasn't a joke!" Tonya protested. "Really! I swear it!"

Hiei just shook his head. "Stupid girls."

"Shut up," Sari snapped at him. "I'll deal with you later." She turned back to her friend. "What were you thinking? Your parents are worried about you, no one knows where you went, and you didn't email, write, or call me! What the fuck is up with that? You haven't even updated your stories since you left! People are really wondering what's been going on!"

"Calm down, Sari-chan," Tonya said, holding up her hands as if to ward off the other girl's anger. "This isn't a joke, and if I'd had a choice, I would have called you or something. I couldn't though. I can't call or contact anyone... Koenma-sama's orders."

"What the fuck are you talking about? And what's the deal with him if this isn't a joke?" she demanded, pointing at Hiei again.

The auburn-haired girl winced slightly. "I was brought here for my own protection, and Hiei-sama's one of my guards." She sighed. "Let's go inside. You might want to sit down for the rest of the explanation.

"

"Yeah," Sari responded sarcastically, but she followed the other girl inside. Jake and Hiei trailed after them.

Once inside, Sari found Yusuke and Kuwabara look-alikes sitting in the living room. "Oh my... this is just too much." She started laughing, knowing that if she didn't she'd end up killing her friend for being so stupid. "You really went all out."

Tonya shook her head. "You don't understand... This is a safe house. I'm stuck here for I don't know how long, and the guys are protecting me... although I almost need someone to protect me from them sometimes." She gave Jake a pointed look.

"Let's see here. You have Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, but no Kurama," Sari commented.

"He's in the kitchen," Tonya replied, eyes going wide. "Crap! I'm supposed to be helping him with the dishes!" She ran out of the living room.

Sari shook her head, doubts filling her mind. "Oh, this I gotta see." Then, she followed her friend, finding the girl going to stand beside a redhead standing at the sink.

"Sorry 'bout splitting on you like that, Kurama-dono, but my friend's here," Tonya stated.

"I'm guessing that she was in the other car?" the redhead inquired.

Sari decided to step into the conversation. "Yes, I was in that car."

The two at the sink turned around, revealing that the man did indeed look like Kurama. Sari, to say the least, was a little surprised. Tonya had really gone over-board on her little joke.

"Sari-chan, this is Kurama-dono, the wonderful chef who cooks most of the meals," Tonya stated with a smile. "Kurama-dono, this is my best friend Sari-chan."

"Where did you find these guys?" Sari wanted to know. "They look exactly like the spirit detectives."

"What is she talking about?" Kurama asked Tonya, looking confused.

Tonya sighed. "She's like me when I first met you guys. She thinks you're just impostors of the _Reikai Tantei._"

The redhead set his dishtowel down. "I'm going to have to prove myself again, aren't I?"

"Yes, please do. I'd love to see you prove you're actually Youko Kurama," Sari stated, watching him carefully, right hand on her hip.

Sighing, he pulled a rose out of his hair, although how it had been in there, Sari couldn't figure out. She was even more amazed when it transformed into a long thorny whip.

"Oh my God." Sari stared for a few moments. "Unbelievable."

"No, not really," Tonya replied. "Just a little strange since we're used to seeing them on TV."

"How'd he do that?" the brunette wanted to know. She was trying to come up with some kind of logical explanation, but she just couldn't seem to do it. How did someone make a rose whip appear out of nowhere?

"My spirit energy," Kurama answered.

Sari shook her head in disbelief. "No, really. How'd you do it?"

"Spirit energy," he repeated. "It can't be done any other way."

"Riiiiight." Sari frowned. "I want the truth."

"That was the truth," Tonya responded, sighing. "Sari, how bad am I at lying?"

"Incredibly bad," the female replied. Tonya couldn't lie if her life depended on it. Her face and voice always gave her away.

"Then how in the world have I been able to keep insisting that these guys are the _Reikai Tantei _without looking like I'm lying?" she inquired.

"I don't know," Sari shot back, sounding exasperated. "Do I look like I know?"

Tonya sighed again. "I'm telling the truth. Please just believe me."

"For the sake of your life, I'll believe you," the brunette replied. "I don't want to kill my best friend."

"Thank you!" Tonya smiled. "I have a lot to tell you... in private." Still grinning, she dragged her friend back to her room.

Yusuke smirked from his spot by the door. "This is gonna be good. I wanna know what they talk about."

"Urameshi!" Kuwabara exclaimed. "You can't spy on them. It's wrong!"

"So?" the black-haired punk responded. "What's your point?"

"You shouldn't spy on them," the carrot top insisted.

"Whatever." Yusuke slinked down the hallway and stood right outside Tonya's door, pressing his ear to it. He heard nothing.

Suddenly, the door opened and something hard connected with the top of his head. "OW!" he exclaimed, sitting back and looking up at who had hurt him. Tonya stood there, a thick hardback book in hand.

"I'm not stupid Yusuke-san," she stated darkly. "Now go away." She slammed the door shut.

Jake chuckled as he shook his head at the hurt male. "You earned that."

"I told you so!" Kuwabara shouted, a triumphant look on his face.

"Perhaps it would be a good idea to not try to spy on Tonya-chan again," Kurama suggested.

"Idiot," was Hiei's only comment.

Scowling, Yusuke went back into the living room, the others following him... except for Hiei. The fire demon went outside, probably to sit in a tree.

* * *

"It's so good to see you!" Tonya exclaimed, hugging Sari. "You have no idea."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Sari muttered, returning the hug. "But you seriously have some explaining to do."

"I know." Tonya sat down on the floor, leaning back against the wall. "The day Jake-kun showed up, we met after school. That's when he dropped a couple of bombs on me."

"Oh, this oughta be good," the brunette commented.

"Jake-kun's a demon, and he's teamed up with the _Reikai Tantei_, the spirit detectives, for a while. For some reason or another, evil demons want me, so Koenma-sama had me brought to a safe house... here. The guys guard me 24-7 in shifts," Tonya explained.

"Evil demons want you?" Sari snorted. "Boy, that's a good one."

Tonya scowled. "It's the truth. I'm a demon, so I have powers."

Sari started out right laughing. "Oooooh, that's another good one." She got herself under control. "C'mon, Tonya-chan. If you were a demon, then your parents would be demons too."

"I'm adopted," the blue-eyed girl informed her friend. "That's one of the other bombs that were dropped on me the day Jake-kun arrived in town."

"Okay... I'll pretend to believe you," Sari replied. "So you're a demon. What kind of demon?"

"I'm half kitsune, a quarter cat, and a quarter human," Tonya answered.

"You don't look like it," she commented.

"I know," Tonya replied. "And it took me forever to believe the fact that I was a demon. It took me going into heat to make me believe."

Sari raised an eyebrow at that. "What?"

"I went into heat." Tonya bit her lip. "Botan-chan explained it as my body trying to get me a mate, so it puts off some kind of scent."

"Riiiight." The brunette didn't appear convinced.

"I'm serious. In the space of a few days, I was kissed and pressed against the wall by Hiei-sama, practically jumped by Jake-kun, kissed by Kurama-dono, and jumped by Yusuke-san. All of them except for Kurama-dono got a flying lesson for their actions." She grinned.

"Flying lesson?" Sari repeated.

Tonya nodded her head. "Yep. It's one of my powers. I can only use it when I'm ticked though."

"Powers... right... okay." The brunette took a deep breath. "You've gone off the deep end."

The demon female huffed. "I have not, thank you very much. I'm perfectly sane... I think."

Sari laughed. "Well, almost two months with those guys for company sure didn't change you much."

"Of course not." Tonya paused and looked at the door. "I know you're there, so step away from the door. If you don't, I'll have to bop you upside the head with my book."

"Sorry!" Yusuke shouted. "I just wanted to make sure neither of you were dead. It's been really quiet."

Sari rolled her eyes. "We're both fine, now stop eavesdropping!"

Tonya giggled. "I think he actually obeyed for once." She smiled at her friend. "You'll stay at least until after supper, right? I've had almost zilch female company this entire time. I've only seen Botan-chan once since I came out here. The guys are great, but I missed talking to you."

"So... just how great are the guys?" the brunette inquired, grinning mischievously. "Is Hiei a good kisser?"

The blue-eyed girl just shook her head and laughed. "God, it's good to talk to you again. And yes, he is, although he's only kissed me once." She paused. "I did wake up this morning to find him in my bed with his arms around me. I'll have to ask him how he ended up there."

"What?" Sari gasped in shock. "I don't believe it. You... and Hiei?"

Tonya furiously shook her head. "Oh no. I don't know how he got in my bed, but we didn't do a thing. I was still fully dressed, as was he. My room has been labeled 'no man's land' by the guys, mainly because they're not really allowed to enter... at least not while I'm in here."

"Why?"

The demon female shrugged. "The guys said something about my scent and the dosage of it in my room being lethal or something." She chuckled. "It really didn't make much sense, but then, Jake-kun was trying to explain it, and he tends to mess up explanations a little. He bombed when it came to breaking the news to me that I was a demon."

Sari smiled. "How bad did he bomb?"

"Bad enough that I didn't have a clue what he was saying," Tonya answered. "Yusuke-san had to tell me."

"Ouch. I would have thought that Kurama would have told you," the teal-eyed girl stated. "After all, he's the polite stuffed-shirt."

"He may be that, but he can explain calculus well enough for me to actually understand it."

"How good of a kisser is Kurama?" Sari asked. She only attached honorifics to a name when a person had earned her respect or if she had to. As far as she was concerned, none of the guys deserved her respect at the moment.

Tonya rolled her eyes. "You're boy crazy, I swear." She shook her head. "He's a great kisser. I made out with him during a movie... at least until Jake-kun broke us up."

"Sounds like someone's jealous," she stated.

The auburn-haired girl shook her head. "No, not really. It's just because I'm in heat. If I wasn't, Kurama-dono wouldn't have kissed me. Even if he had, without me being in heat, Jake-kun wouldn't have even cared."

Sari smirked. "I don't know... Yusuke or Hiei didn't break you two up. Jake did."

"So? Hiei-sama's older, so he has better control, and Yusuke-san is just... Yusuke-san. He tries his best to keep his distance from me." Tonya shrugged. "Which suits me just fine. The one time he kissed me was enough."

"Was he any good?"

"SARI-CHAN!"

Sari laughed. "What? Do you have a problem?"

Tonya shook her head, not quite sure if she was embarrassed or amused. "I'm really not sure. He didn't get to kiss me for more than a split second."

"Okay... so the only guys you haven't told me about are Kuwabara and Jake, and I know you wouldn't have anything to do with Kuwabara." She grinned wickedly. "So, tell me about Jake. You guys kissed, right?"

"Yeah, quite a few times. He's pushed his luck with me more times than I can count," Tonya replied. "He's gotten me in the living room, the kitchen, my bedroom, the closet... he even kissed me in the laundry room once, but that didn't last for very long. He's gotten a little better at controlling himself though, which I'm thrilled about."

Sari studied her friend for a moment. "Why would you be thrilled? I wouldn't mind being kissed by I guy I liked."

"It's kinda stressful, considering that the main goal of the guys while they're kissing me is to make me their mate." Tonya sighed. "I don't want a mate, but I may accidentally end up with one if I let things go too far."

"How exactly would one of the guys make you his mate?" Sari inquired.

The demon female thought about that for a moment. "I don't know."

* * *

After dinner, Sari hugged Tonya good-bye, promising to come back soon. As she walked to the front door, Botan appeared.

"Oh, hey, Botan-chan," Tonya said. "What bad news have you brought for me today?"

"Nothing that pertains to you," the ferry-girl replied, looking over at Sari. "But she can't leave. She's seen you, and Koenma-sama said that she has to stay here."

"WHAT?" Sari screamed.

"Sorry," Botan stated. "Your stuff will be brought here before tomorrow morning, but you can't leave... for safety reasons."

"There's no fucking way I'm staying here. I have stuff to do. I'm in 4-H; I have obligations. My parents will worry," Sari ranted.

"Someone will tell your parents... something so they'll know you're safe, but you can't leave," Botan insisted. "If you do, you could end up putting Tonya-chan in danger."

"I don't fucking believe my friend's in danger! This is all some fucking joke, so I won't stay here!" the brunette screamed, stomping one of her feet.

Botan sighed. "Trust me, this isn't a joke. You're stuck here for as long as Tonya-chan is." She bit her lower lip, thinking. "Just to make sure you can't leave, your car has been... disabled. It'll be fixed when it's safe to leave again." Actually, there was nothing under the hood of Sari's car anymore, courtesy of Koenma.

Sari's jaw dropped. "Ahhh... fuck no. You did not just say that you broke my car just to keep me here."

"Yes, I did," she replied. "And I have to go now. Bye!" Then, the ferry-girl disappeared, leaving Sari fuming. With the messenger gone, Sari turned her anger on the others in the room.

"This is your fault," Sari declared, pointing at Tonya. "Yours and the guys. It's your fault I'm fucking trapped her."

"Sari-chan, I really didn't mean for this to happen. I didn't know Koenma-sama wouldn't let you leave!" Tonya protested. "This isn't my fault!"

"Yes, it is! You fucking sent Jake into town to fucking bring me back here just so you could have some fucking company. You planned all this! I can't believe you!" Sari began to storm down the hallway, cursing.

"She didn't do that!" Jake exclaimed in Tonya's defense. He didn't know what Sari's problem was, but he didn't like her blaming Tonya for everything.

"I didn't plan this!" Tonya shouted, frowning. Her friend was angry and was trying to take it out on people, especially her. Knowing that Sari needed someone to yell at, she began to run after the girl; however, someone stopped her, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her into a warm lap.

"Leave her be," Kurama advised as the other guys went outside to see exactly what Botan had done to Sari's car.

"But, Kurama-dono," Tonya began. She still called him Kurama-dono to keep him from becoming too close to her. It was a defense mechanism. "She needs to yell at someone. If she can't take her anger out at people, she'll just become angrier."

He shook his head. "I'm not so sure. When you came here, you fumed for the first week, and we left you alone. Do the same for your friend. She needs some time alone."

"No, I need to talk to her!" she insisted, trying to wiggle out of his grasp. "Now, let me go!"

Kurama sighed. "You need to leave her alone."

"But-" Tonya began, but she was cut off by Kurama's lips on hers. He was obviously trying to shut her up, and she knew it; however, she didn't know how to react. She needed to go after her friend, but the redhead wasn't going to let her off his lap any time soon. Also, if she kept protesting, he'd only kiss her again. _'I might as well enjoy it then,' _she mused, beginning to kiss him back.

The instant she tried to pull away, Kurama tightened his grip on her and deepened the kiss, trying to distract her. It worked.

Tonya relaxed, letting him have his way. He really was a good kisser, and it was hard for her to concentrate on anything else when his tongue invaded her mouth.

After a while, Kurama pulled away, allowing Tonya to catch her breath. "Can I go see her now?" she inquired. "Please?"

The kitsune shook his head. "No. Let her be."

"But, Kurama-dono!" she protested, trying to pull out of his grasp. "C'mon! Just let me go!"

"I will if you promise to let Sari-san be until at least tomorrow morning," he responded.

Tonya shook her head. "I won't promise anything of the sort."

"Then I won't let you go," Kurama replied calmly.

Jake and Yusuke suddenly walked back inside, Kuwabara not too far behind. "What's going on?" Jake wanted to know, narrowing his eyes at the two.

"Make him let me go!" Tonya demanded. "I want to talk to Sari-chan!"

"Why exactly are you keeping her prisoner?" Yusuke inquired. "If Tonya lets her friend kill her, it won't be our fault."

Kurama sighed. "Sari-san needs time alone, but Tonya-chan won't accept that fact."

"She's my friend! I need to talk to her!" she protested, still struggling.

Jake crouched down so he was closer to Tonya's eye level. "How about if someone Sari-san's not angry at goes to talk to her?" he wanted to know.

Tonya blinked, a little surprised by the offer. "I guess that'd be okay."

"Who isn't she angry at then?" Jake asked. "I know she's angry at me and Tonya-chan." He looked at the other guys. "Any volunteers?"

"Don't send Kuwabara-san," she stated. "Sari-chan isn't too fond of him. Send whoever will be able to stay calm while she yells at him."

"I'm out," Yusuke said as loud music filtered into the room. "ICP... yea."

Kurama sighed. "It seems that I'm the only one left."

Tonya smiled, realizing that the redhead would have to let her go. Once she was free, she'd be able to go see Sari.

"Jake, would you mind holding onto her while I talk to her friend?" the kitsune asked.

The aqua-eyed boy shrugged, a strange look in his eyes. "Sure."

Tonya grumbled as she exchanged one prison guard for another. Since Jake (who was sitting on the couch) had her trapped on his lap, Kurama went down the hallway. Yusuke and Kuwabara followed at a distance so they could listen to the redhead be chewed out by the fiery girl. After all, with the music so loud, they would have to be close to hear the screaming.

As soon as they were gone, Tonya attempted to make the male release her. "Jake-kun, please let me go," she pleaded. "I just want to talk to Sari-chan."

"No. You need to stay here and let Kurama-san take care of things," he replied.

Tonya began to pout, crossing her arms and refusing to look at him. Jake was just as stubborn as her, so she knew that she wouldn't get anywhere with him.

As the minutes passed, she grew bored. "Jake-kun..."

"No," he immediately replied.

"You don't even know what I was going to ask," Tonya protested, frowning slightly. "At least let me finish my question."

Jake sighed. "Fine."

"Can you transform into your demon form? I wanna see your ears again." She smiled at him, blushing slightly. "Please?"

"No."

Tonya scowled at him. "Why not? You let me see them before!"

"Just because," Jake answered.

"I want to know why," she stated, turning in his lap to face him so she could glare at him better.

He shook his head. "I'm not going to transform."

"Jake-kun, I want to know why. Just tell me, okay?" She pouted. "Please?"

Jake sighed, feeling defeated. The girl's scent had done him in, breaking down his defenses until he had to give into her. "Alright. I'll show you."

"Yea!" Tonya cheered, clapping her hands. A moment later, Jake was in his demon form, complete with his cat ears, his cat tail, and his narrow pupils. "So cute..." She reached up and rubbed the fuzzy triangles, a bright smile on her face. He was even purring, which she found amazing, even though the sound was sensual.

Jake tensed as the rubbing sent waves of pleasure through him. No one other than Tonya had ever touched his ears like that, and he couldn't stop his desire from taking over. He hadn't wanted to transform because he had known what Tonya rubbing his ears would do to him. The defenses that he had meticulously constructed came crashing down, leaving him helpless to Tonya and her scent.

He leaned forward and kissed her, using his arms to pull her closer. She reacted beautifully by pressing up against him and kissing him back, dropping one hand to his shoulders as her other hand continued to massage one of his cat ears.

Tonya was amazed by how she could kiss one guy, and then ten minutes later, kiss another one. It just didn't make sense, but then again, her life didn't make much sense. She did know that she enjoyed kissing, and as long as the guys didn't try to take it too far, she figured she could at least let them have their way for a little while.

Jake broke away from her lips to place light kisses all over her face, surprised by the fact that she hadn't protested yet. Surely she knew he was going to mark her soon. Surely she knew that he was going through the process that came right before the marking. She just had to know; however, he didn't think about that very long, because his attention fully shifted to the female demon in his lap and how much he wanted her.

He pushed the neckline of her shirt until one of her shoulders was completely bare. Then he kissed his way down her neck, slowly working his way to where her neck and shoulder met. That was where he was going to mark her. When he finally came to the juncture, he briefly paused.

Tonya's eyes flew open as a strange feeling came over her. She didn't know what was going on, but she didn't like it. _'Jake-kun's doing something, but what? I don't want him to do it,' _she thought. "Jake-kun, let me go," she pleaded softly; he didn't respond. "Jake-kun, release me!" He still didn't say a word, but he lightly pressed his teeth down on her skin. "JAKE-KUN! Stop right now!"

Jake froze, suddenly finding himself unable to move. Something was wrong, and he had a feeling that Tonya was the cause of it. _'Why can't I move?' _he wondered, trying to come up with some kind of logical explanation; he couldn't.

Shaking, Tonya wiggled out of his lap, quickly moving away from him. "What were you doing?" she asked, voice quivering slightly as she rubbed the spot he had begun to bite down on. He hadn't left any bite marks, which she was thankful for, but she still wanted to know what he had been thinking.

For some reason or another, he could move his head but not anything else. "That's why I didn't want to transform."

"What?" She was still shaking, which surprised her. She normally calmed down a whole lot faster.

"I almost marked you," Jake clarified.

Tonya stood up and backed up toward the hallway. "You what?" She stared at him, astonishment on her face. "Why?"

He remained silent, so she fled to the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind her without even saying a word to Yusuke and Kuwabara who were camped out in the hall.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Kurama almost sighed in relief when Sari stopped yelling at him. She was very creative when it came to cursing, he'd give her that. He'd never heard anyone vocalize their displeasure so ingeniously, and he never wanted to hear it again.

"I didn't even know people could do some of that, but thank you for enlightening me," he said politely. She seemed calmer, so he didn't want to anger her all over again. "Are you done?"

Sari nodded her head. "Yeah. I feel better, I guess." She shrugged.

"Then perhaps we could leave Tonya-chan's room and assure her that you're okay now?" Kurama inquired.

She shrugged again. "Sure, why not?" she replied, turning off the music she had been blaring.

They went out in the hallway, finding Yusuke and Kuwabara there. For some reason or another, both boys were staring at the closed bathroom door.

"What are you two doing?" Sari wanted to know, her opinion of their intelligence levels sliding down a few notches. The bad thing was, she already had low opinions of their intelligence levels, so they really didn't have much room to lower.

"Tonya's in there. She won't come out," Kuwabara responded, pointing at the bathroom door.

Kurama frowned. "Why?" he inquired, his green eyes focusing on the door as well. _'Why would she lock herself in the bathroom?' _he wondered. _'What could have possibly happened?' _

"Don't know." The carrot top shrugged.

Sighing, the redhead knocked on the door. "Tonya-chan, are you okay?"

"GO AWAY!" Tonya shouted. "JUST GO AWAY!"

"That's all she's been saying since she went in there," Yusuke stated. "But she'd better come out of there before I need to use the bathroom, or else I'll bust down the door!"

Sari shook her head in disappointment. "Men." She gently pushed Kurama aside, figuring that she was needed more than they were. Besides, she knew how to twist Tonya just right so she'd open the door. "Let me try." She knocked on the door. "Tonya-chan, it's Sari. Let me in, okay?"

"Go away, please," Tonya replied, sounding scared.

The brunette frowned. "I have already used up all of my patience for today, so you can either let me in, or I'll pick the lock and let myself in. You know I can." _'When all else fails, bring out the big guns.' _

"Fine."

Sari heard a click and then the door opened just enough for her to slip through. The instant she was in the bathroom, Tonya shut and locked the door.

"What's the deal?" the brunette inquired, noticing that her friend seemed a little... out of it.

"I almost got a mate today." Tonya curled up in a ball on the floor, her back against the tub. "Jake-kun tried to mark me."

"He what?" Sari raised an eyebrow at that. _'What is she talking about?' _It sounded like her friend was making up stupid stories again.

"He tried to bite me here." She pointed to the juncture of her neck and shoulder. "He tried to claim me."

Sari shook her head. "That's what has you so shaken up?" The reasoning sounded pathetic to her, but then, Tonya had never been one to become upset over normal things.

Tonya nodded. "I don't want to go out there."

"Well, I'm not going to stay in here for much longer. This is a nice bathroom, but we don't have food in here, and the bedroom's more comfortable," the teal-eyed girl replied. "So, c'mon. Let's get out of here. We can lock ourselves in your room with a pile of chocolate if you want, but I'm not going to stay in here."

"I can't go out there. The guys are there." Tonya shook her head, trying to reaffirm what she had said.

Sari growled and pulled her friend into a standing position. "We're not gonna stay in here. Avoid the guys for the rest of eternity if you want, but I refuse to remain in here for one more minute." She dragged Tonya out of the bathroom, finding Kurama, Kuwabara, and Yusuke still out in the hallway.

"Tonya-chan," Kurama began, reaching out for the female demon, worry in his eyes. If something was wrong, he wanted to at least attempt to help her. "Are you o-"

The instant he touched Tonya, he went flying down the hall. Kuwabara stared at Tonya in shock, while Yusuke took a step back. He didn't want to go flying too. Sari just shook her head in amusement and led the way to the bedroom. Tonya didn't need her help protecting herself. She did just fine on her own.

Tonya wasted no time in running to her bedroom, moving to lock both her and Sari inside right as Botan appeared, suitcases at her feet.

"What's going on?" the ferry girl asked, frowning slightly. "I brought Sari-chan's things."

"Great." Sari dragged the bags into the room.

"Oh, Botan-chan I would like to make a request for two computers with high speed internet access and plenty of RAM," Tonya stated. "On mine I would very much like different photo shop programs and possibly an attached scanner, pretty, pretty please with sugar on top."

Botan blinked, surprised by the request. "Okay... I'll see what I can do."

"Now, could you also tell Koenma that he needs to find a way for me to go home very soon," Sari added, her anger beginning to resurface. She was definitely furious with the stupid toddler, and she had no problem showing people that, even the grim reaper.

"I guess so."

"Good. Thank you, and bye-bye." With a strained smile, Sari shut the door.

* * *

It took Tonya a little while to calm down, but when she did, Sari took all her things to one of the other rooms, deciding to hit the sack a little early, which happened to be ten at night. That, of course, made Tonya briefly wonder why Hiei hadn't put her in a "guest" bed instead of braving her room to put her in her own. It would have been much smarter. That thought quickly left her mind when there was a knock on the door.

Curious, Tonya went over to the door but didn't open it. She figured caution was best, especially after what had happened with Jake not too long ago. "Yes?"

"Ummm... do you think you could do something about Jake? He can't move," Yusuke replied.

"OH!" Her eyes flew wide open. "I completely forgot about that! I can't believe I left him frozen for so long." Feeling rather guilty, she raced to the living room, almost knocking down Yusuke in the process.

Tonya went into the living room, finding Jake in the exact same position she had left him in. He looked absolutely miserable.

"I'm so sorry." She sat down beside him on the couch and frowned. "I don't know how to make it so you can move again."

"Just try something," he advised. Obviously his head could still move, just not the rest of him. "Please."

"What did you do to freeze him?" Kurama inquired, walking into the room.

"I believe I just told him to stop," Tonya replied.

"Then tell him to move," the redhead suggested logically. It certainly made sense to him.

"Okay..." She shrugged. "Jake-kun, move." He didn't move. She crossed her arms in annoyance, ticked that she had failed. She hated failing. "Dammit! Why the flip won't the stupid freeze thing undo and let you move?"

Jake's hands suddenly dropped to his lap, and he groaned, finally realizing just how stiff he was. Sitting in the same position for four hours had been killer on his muscles.

"Ow..." He slowly began to stretch out his muscles, wincing every few seconds. He hurt bad. His whole body ached, and his arms hurt most of all.

"Will you be okay?" Tonya asked as Kurama left the room.

"I think so." Jake flexed his fingers. Everything still seemed to work, which he saw as a small miracle.

She yawned, happy that he was fine. Since she had taken care of him, she didn't see any reason not to get some sleep. "Okay. I'm going to bed now. Good night."

"'Night," he replied as Tonya stood up.

Yawning again, she went to her room and fell asleep.

* * *

Mid morning, Sari woke up and quickly changed into comfortable clothes-black jeans, a green t-shirt, and tennis shoes. _'I won't stay here any longer. I have a life.' _She glanced at her suitcases. _'Tonya can get them back to me later. If I take them with me, they'll only slow me down.' _

A determined look on her face, she opened the window, lifted the screen, and slipped out of the house. Soon, she was on her way home... on foot.

* * *

Tonya woke up around ten, feeling much better. She was completely over her episode from the night before. It hadn't really been Jake's fault, so she forgave and forgot.

After rapidly throwing on a red tank top and khaki pants, she went to the kitchen, wanting breakfast. As she snacked on a fruit and a grain bar, she waved 'good morning' to Jake and Kurama. The other guys weren't in the house. Tonya glanced out a few windows, noticing Hiei sitting in a tree and Yusuke talking to him. Kuwabara was just sitting on the front steps, relaxing.

Tonya plopped down in her favorite chair, partially curling up a moment later, her legs tucked beneath her.

"Feeling better?" Jake asked, leaning his shoulder against the door frame. After what had happened the night before, he felt like keeping his distance. Being frozen had not been fun.

"Yeah. You?" She finished off her breakfast.

He nodded. "Yeah. Sleep and a hot bath did wonders."

"That's great." Tonya smiled. Then, she decided to change the subject. "Jake-kun, maybe you can help me out a bit by explaining something to me."

"I'll try," the dark-skinned male promised.

"Okie-dokie," she replied. "Can you explain marking and demon mating... and what they entail?"

Jake blushed, although it was hard to see on his dark skin. "A demon male bites a female on the right side of her neck, claiming her as his, but if they don't mate within a week, the mark will vanish." He nervously licked his lips, obviously finding the topic hard to talk about. "If another male wants a female, but she's already been marked but not mated, he'll mark the left side of her neck. This shows everyone that she's being fought over."

"Sounds like whoever made up this system was a female with an ego problem," Tonya commented, rolling her eyes.

"I don't know," he responded, shrugging. "But demon mating is..." He blushed even darker. "Like human mating. As far as I know, there isn't a difference. Although, if the girl is being fought over, then after she's mated, the other mark will disappear."

She blinked a few times, digesting what he had told her. "If I had known all of that, I wouldn't have freaked so badly when you tried to bite me."

Jake shook his head and sighed. _'I really should keep her better informed on the details about demons. I might not go flying into walls as often.' _He took a deep breath. "Tonya-chan, when a demon male kisses a female, the whole point is to lead up to the marking."

"That means that Hiei-sama, Kurama-dono, even Yusuke-san when he tried to kiss me... they all just wanted to mark me?" She frowned. "That sounds a little strange."

He shrugged. "It's the truth." He paused. "Oh, I almost forgot. Botan-san brought two laptops for you and Sari-san earlier this morning. They're sitting on the dining room table."

"Yea!" Tonya cheered, jumping up.

"But there are some rules," Jake continued, making her groan in annoyance. "You can't tell anyone what's going on, where you are, etc. Also, your stories can't reflect what's going on either."

"Awww man," she whined. "That bites big time." She pouted briefly but eventually shrugged. "Oh well. I still have a computer. My readers are going to be so happy when I update." Smiling, she ran off.

* * *

Lunch time rolled around, and Tonya volunteered to wake up Sari. Singing softly to herself, mainly because she knew that she was singing out of tune, she knocked on Sari's door. There was no response.

"YO! Sari-chan! Lunch time! Food!" Still, nothing.

Frowning, Tonya tried to open the door. It was locked. She sighed and put to use the skill Sari herself had taught her-lock picking.

She had almost no problems picking the lock, but once she entered the room, she quickly realized that Sari wasn't there, and the window was open with the screen up.

Tonya shook her head and sighed. "I should have seen this coming."

* * *

"She's gone," Tonya reported to the guys, who had all gathered in the dining room for lunch. "She went out the window."

Jake frowned. "Are you sure she's just not outside?"

She shook her head. "Why in the flying flip would Sari-chan go out through the window if she just wanted to spend some time outside? She, unlike Hiei-sama, has no problem using doors to enter and exit." She sighed. "I don't know how long she's been gone, but I know where she's headed."

"Home," Kurama stated. "That's where she's been wanting to go."

Yusuke nodded his head in agreement. "Okay, so she's walking home. Big deal. Someone will just have to fetch her."

"She's probably at least twenty miles away though," Tonya added.

"Which means she hasn't made it to town yet, right?" Kuwabara inquired.

Jake hung his head. "We're an hour away from any form of civilization."

"_Baka_," Hiei stated, which caused Tonya to look at him.

"You can go after her!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands.

"What?" The fire demon looked surprised... very surprised.

Tonya smiled. "You're fast. You should be able to catch up with her and bring her back in no time at all." _'And Sari-chan likes him too. She thinks he's cute, which means that she might react better to him than anyone else. Of course, if Hiei-sama's reading my mind now, then he'll find out, and that would be bad, but... oh well.' _

Hiei glared at her. "I don't think so."

"Please?" she pleaded, pouting a little.

"No."

Tonya sighed. "I didn't want to do this, but you brought it on yourself," she said softly as Hiei prepared himself to go flying. "If you don't go get her, I'll tell someone special your secret... the secret behind why you got the jagan eye implanted in your forehead."

The koorime's eyes became wide. _'How could she possibly know?' _"You wouldn't dare," he stated, tone dark and threatening. _'She had better not tell Yukina anything if she really does know.' _

"I can also tell everyone where you came from, how the people there reacted to you..." She chewed on her lower lip for a moment, thinking. "I know a little about your youth, like how you were a class A demon at age five. Let's see here... what else?"

"Where'd you get all this information on the shrimp?" Kuwabara wanted to know.

"Interesting question," Kurama commented.

"I'd like to know the answer to that too," Yusuke added.

Jake remained silent. He already knew the answer.

"That's my secret." Tonya giggled, an evil smile on her face. "Now, Hiei-sama, will you pretty please retrieve Sari-chan?"

"If you tell anyone anything-" he began, but she cut him off.

"You'll kill me. Yes, I know that already. You've threatened Botan-chan with that many, many times." Tonya waved her hand, easily dismissing his threat. "I'm not all that worried. Besides, everything I know, Sari-chan knows."

"Damn, what is there, a big website that details everything that happened in Hiei's past?" Kuwabara exclaimed.

Tonya broke down laughing, amazed that the carrot top had hit the nail right on the head. He was actually right. Amazing. _'I'll have to mark this day down in my planner. Kuwabara finally guessed something correctly.' _

Glaring at Tonya one last time, Hiei left through the window.

* * *

Sari was walking down the road, trying to figure out roughly how long it would take her to get home... or at least to the nearest phone. _'Let's see here... it took me about a little overran hour in my car to get from Wal-Mart to Tonya's new place, and I think there was a small town somewhere along the way. So, I'll assume about seventy miles, and if I continue to walk about five miles an hour...' _She drifted off. _'Shit! Fifteen hours! This is insane!' _

Mentally grumbling and a little disheartened but still determined, she continued on. _'I will not stop. I don't care how badly my feet hurt. Pain is just weakness leaving the body.' _

Sari froze when someone wearing all black appeared in front of her. "What the fuck are you doing out here?" she cried out in surprise. "Don't tell me that you've been following me all this time?" It was then that she noticed his red eyes were only two inches below her eye level, but with his hair, he looked a little taller than her. She didn't know why she noticed that, but she did. _'Ahhhh... fuck. I bet he's gonna try to make me go back.' _

"Hn. No." Then, he unceremoniously picked her up, slinging her over one shoulder.

"What the fuck?" she shouted, furious at how he was treating her. "PUT ME DOWN!" She banged her fists on his back and kicked her legs, even though it didn't seem to do much good.

"Stupid human. You're wasting your time," Hiei stated, sprinting off with her still over his shoulder. "You can't hurt me."

"I don't care! Put me down, you Hiei wannabe! I demand that you release me at once!" Sari continued to kick and scream, trying to be as loud as possible. "Fucking put me down!"

"_Ningen no baka_," he said softly, slightly shaking his head.

She hit his back as hard as she could. "I know what that means, so stop it! I'm not stupid, okay?" she yelled. "And put me down! I won't go back there! I fucking won't!"

While Hiei continued to run, her language became even more colorful as she switched to French. Then, out of phrases to use, she began to make up some of her own. That impressed Hiei a little, but he refused to say so, because it got on his nerves as well.

"Shut up!" he snapped. "And stop kicking me."

"NO!" Sari suddenly realized just how much she had slid down the front of his body. A certain part of his anatomy was within kicking range, so she kicked and kicked hard, her aim perfect.

Hiei stopped running and collapsed to his knees, an expression of pure pain and fury on his face. He didn't release Sari though. He merely tightened his hold on her, giving her back a little of the pain she had caused him. Then, once he had recovered enough to move, he dropped her on the ground and unsheathed his sword, pointing it at her throat.

"_Ningen no baka._"

* * *

"What's that?" Jake asked, pointing at the thing in Tonya's hands. Lunch was over with, and everyone was sitting in the living room, relaxing.

"My planner," she replied, writing down something in her old school handbook.

Jake read it over her shoulder. _'The day Kuwabara was finally smart enough to guess something correctly.' _He laughed. "That's pretty neat." His eyes wandered farther down the page, still reading. He saw little notes in the code she loved to write in, but at the bottom of one page, he noticed something different.

_'Got a problem?' _he mentally read. _'A big problem? Or maybe it's a growing problem? Hmmm...?' _His eyes widened as he realized what that related to. _'Vacation Time! Cassie said something similar to that!'_

"Why did you write that?" Jake pointed at the sentences he had just read.

"Write what?" Yusuke asked.

Tonya blushed, ignoring the punk. "I didn't write it. RL Cassie did."

"Who's RL Cassie?" Kurama inquired, curious. "I don't remember you ever mentioning her before."

"That is none of your business," she stated, nodding her head. "I refuse to tell you."

Jake thought for a few moments. "It's Sari-san! RL Cassie is Sari-san! They look exactly the same! I can't believe I didn't notice it earlier!" He almost smacked himself in the forehead, but he figured that he had better things to do... like see what else was written in that planner.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Tonya replied, her voice betraying the fact that she was lying.

"I hope you don't mind if I borrow this for a moment." Jake snatched the handbook away from her.

"Hey! Give that back!" she demanded, trying to snatch it out of his hands.

In the process of flipping through it, he noticed the cover. There was a picture of him on the top half, and drawings of Kurama on the bottom half. "Oh my..."

"JAKE-KUN!" Tonya screamed.

"This I gotta see," Yusuke stated, getting up and going over to Jake. Kuwabara was quick to join in, both spirit detectives looking over Jake's shoulders so they could read.

"'He doesn't mind being saddled up'?" Yusuke read out loud, making Tonya blush even more. "What the hell is that for?"

"Sexual innuendo," Jake clarified. "And I know what it's from."

"Shut up and give that back right now!" she ordered sharply.

"Let me see!" Kuwabara took the planner from Jake, noticing the front cover of it in the process. "Why do you have pictures of Jake and Kurama on this?"

Kurama, who had just been plainly embarrassed by the actions of his friends up till then, finally took an interest in the handbook. "What did you just say?"

"Give it back, please!" Tonya pleaded, trying to grab the book from the carrot top. He was just too tall though. She couldn't even reach her possession by jumping.

Kuwabara showed the redhead the cover. "See? She has pictures of you."

Blushing, she kicked the idiotic human in the knee, which had no effect on him what so ever. "So? I've drawn pictures of a lot of people. I've drawn Thomas-kun and Cameron-kun and Hiei-sama and Trunks-kun and..." She drifted off when she noticed that her argument wasn't helping her any. "I draw a lot, alright?"

"So why's Kurama on your planner?" Yusuke asked, his tone teasing. "Do you like him, perhaps?"

"Who I like is none of your business!" Tonya snapped, glaring at the black-haired punk. "Now, I want my planner back right this instant!"

"Alright, alright." Kuwabara gave the handbook back to Tonya, who immediately hugged the object to her chest, making sure no one could take it. "I just have one question."

"What?" Tonya glared up at him.

"What's the deal with water wars?"

**Ningen no baka - stupid human**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

"Put me down!" Sari shouted. "Untie me and let me go! I won't go back! I won't!" She struggled against the belts Hiei had used to bind her arms to her side. He was carrying her bridal style (to prevent another one of her kicks from coming in contact with him) as he ran through the forest, jumping from tree branch to tree branch every so often.

"No. Now, shut up," Hiei growled back. The girl certainly had guts, and she was persistent, but she was also annoying.

"NO!" She continued to shout, insulting him to the best of her abilities, which were pretty good. After a little while, she calmed down enough to talk reasonably decent. "You jerk! Let me go!" She wiggled for a few moments, not caring about how high off the ground she was. "You wouldn't know what to do with a girl if she wasn't tied up!"

He rolled his eyes. He had already tried controlling her with his jagan eye, but her willpower was too strong. She was just too stubborn to do anything with.

As Hiei stopped in the front yard of Tonya's safe house, Sari continued to rant. "Now I know why the koorime's dropped you off that fucking floating island! You're a complete asshole!"

The fire demon froze and stared at Sari for a few moments. "Shut up, ningen." He could remember Tonya saying that Sari knew quite a bit about him, so he brushed her statement off. Still annoyed, he carried her inside.

They were both greeted by the sight of Tonya chasing Jake around the living room, while the other guys watched and laughed. "Jake-kun! Come back here so I can kill you!" Tonya growled darkly. "And give me back my drawing notebook!"

Sari shook her head. "Hiei, you can put me fucking down now."

Hiei considered that for a moment. _'If I set her down, she might kick me and run away. Someone needs to impress upon her that she had damn well better stay here and not cause me problems.' _He shook his head. "No."

"WHAT?" Sari exclaimed.

Tonya came to a screeching halt and finally noticed that her friend was back. "Sari-chan!" She smiled. "Put her down, Hiei-sama. You brought her back, so I'll keep my mouth shut."

Of course, Hiei dropped her. Then, after quickly collecting his belts, he left.

Sari, obviously, continued to fume. "Tonya-chan, you fucking sent him after me, didn't you?" Tonya nodded, and then Sari went off on her. Tonya calmly took it while the guys watched in amazement. The whole thing ended with Sari storming back to her room and slamming the door.

"Well... that was interesting. She has a rather dirty mouth," Yusuke commented, sounding amused.

"She needs to wash her mouth out with soap," Kuwabara added.

"Nah," Tonya replied. "Her mouth ain't that bad." She paused. "Well, I'm going to take this..." She snatched her drawing notebook out of Jake's hands. "And now I'm going to camp out in my room until Sari decides to yell at me again. Bye-bye." Then, smiling, she walked off.

* * *

Three days later, the boys had gone back to rotating shifts (with Hiei, Kurama and Jake forming one shift and Yusuke and Kuwabara forming another) and Sari was still ticked. She had yelled at Tonya quite a few times, but Hiei tended to avoid her, so she hadn't been able to yell at him. She still didn't feel like being nice, so she didn't, which was mostly Hiei's fault.

Tonya was fine though. After acquiring a wonderful computer, she spent quite a bit of time typing in her stories. Sari used hers to get on HOL, even though she couldn't vent there because of Koenma's rules, which were enforced. If she began to tell anyone anything, the computer instantly shut down.

It was sometime after supper when Tonya heard a knock on her bedroom door. "C'mon in!" she shouted.

"Tonya-chan, I believe you left this out in the living room this afternoon," Kurama said as he entered. Instantly, Tonya's scent surrounded him, practically begging him to come in even farther. He did.

She turned to see what the redhead had in his hands. It was her drawing notebook, open to a particular picture that she had drawn. It was of Kurama and Kaline.

"Thanks." Blushing furiously, she stood up and took the notebook from him.

"Who's the girl?" Kurama inquired, curiosity shining in his green eyes.

"Ummm... just someone I made up." Tonya continued to blush like mad as she rubbed her thumb and index finger along the edge of the pages. "OW!" she yelped when a sheet cut into her finger. She stuck the digit in her mouth, whimpering softly.

"Are you okay?" He was instantly by her side, trying to see what had happened.

She pulled her finger out of her mouth and wrapped it in the hem of her shirt. "Paper cut. Damn it hurts."

"Let me see," Kurama suggested gently, reaching down for her injured finger. Tonya didn't fight against him, so he examined the tiny wound. He understood that humans found paper cuts painful, but he had thought a person who was three-quarters demon would not have been susceptible to them.

He pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket and wrapped it around her finger. Tonya rewarded him with a kind smile.

"Thanks," she said brightly, hugging him before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "That was so sweet of you."

With her arms around him and her face so close, Kurama couldn't help but kiss her. He eased his mouth over hers, wasting no time in deepening the kiss, his tongue exploring her mouth.

Tonya just relaxed when his arms tightly wrapped around her, kissing him back. It felt good to kiss him, and she saw nothing wrong with enjoying herself for a while. Besides, Kurama was the one who had never pushed it with her. He was trustworthy.

Kurama abandoned her mouth after a few minutes, moving to nibble on her ear. Then, he lightly nipped and kissed his way down her neck. He could smell her body's response to what he was doing, so he reacted appropriately. He bit down on the juncture of her neck and shoulder.

Gasping as a sharp pain went through her, Tonya's eyes flew open. _'Kurama's marking me,' _she thought. Then, the pain was gone, replaced with waves of pleasure that swept through her over and over again. She had never felt anything like it.

Neither knew how long they stood there, Kurama's teeth in Tonya's neck, but he eventually drew away, ending the waves of pleasure. He noticed the mark he had left on her skin and gently licked it, soothing the slightly red skin.

"Mmmm..." Tonya felt warm and sluggish, as if she had just woken up from a wonderful dream. Actually, she felt better than that; she just didn't know how to describe it. Sitting down sounded pretty good to her though. She was beyond exhausted.

Kurama kissed the mark he had just placed on her, feeling much more relaxed than he had felt in ages. The scent wasn't affecting him as much since he had marked her, which meant that he didn't have to waste so much energy in fighting it. Of course, her scent would spike later on, making sure that he wouldn't be able to forget what was supposed to come next. Although how he could forget, he didn't know.

"Kurama?" she mumbled softly, resting her head against his chest. She even sounded exhausted.

"Yes?" he inquired. "What is it?"

She yawned. "Why am I so tired?"

"Marking uses up energy... even the female's," Kurama answered. "This is perfectly normal."

"Okay." Tonya rubbed her cheek against his chest, sighing contentedly. "Does that mean I can go to sleep now?"

"Yes." He kissed the top of her head before picking her up and carrying her to her bed. Before he even laid her down, she was dead asleep. Kurama smiled at her, ran his fingers through her hair, and then left.

* * *

Tonya woke up about an hour later, feeling refreshed but hungry. Her neck felt a little sore, but she didn't feel like worrying about it. In a week, it'd be gone. No big deal.

Smiling, she walked out to the kitchen, quickly raiding the fridge for some leftover stir-fry that Kurama had prepared the previous night.

While she was heating her food up in the microwave, Jake walked in, instantly noticing the mark on her neck. "Tonya-chan!" he exclaimed, surprise and jealousy flowing throughout him. "What? How? Who?"

Tonya turned and stared at him in confusion. "What's your problem, Jake-kun? Are you okay?" She pulled her food out of the microwave and began eating as Jake recovered from his shock.

"Who marked you?" he demanded to know.

"Kurama-kun," she calmly answered in-between bites. "He did it about an hour ago." For some reason, she couldn't call the fox demon Kurama-dono anymore, not after he had marked her. It just didn't seem right. Besides, they were friends.

Jake growled softly. Not only had Kurama marked the girl, but he had also been upgraded to kun—his level. It probably meant that Tonya liked them equally, which was something he didn't like. "Don't you know what that means?"

Tonya frowned. "What's wrong? I thought that marking was no big deal?" she inquired. "It does fade in a week if I don't mate with him, right?"

"Yes, but..." He ran a hand through his short black hair. "Because Kurama marked you, you'll instinctively let him get away with more. You won't get angry if he pushes things too far, and as the week progresses, your instincts will become more and more predominate, making it so you won't even become angry if he jumps and mates you in your room... even if you don't want to deep inside."

She blinked. "Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" she asked, voice neutral. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to be angry or just plain surprised as hell.

"Because I never thought that you'd allow one of us to mark you!" Jake exclaimed, sighing in frustration.

Tonya shook her head as she finished off her food, putting her plate in the sink. "I'll be fine," she promised him, walking up and patting him gently on the cheek. "Really I will. I'll just have to be really careful and never be alone with him." She smiled at him. "But thanks for your concern." She kissed him on the forehead.

That was all it took to make his jealousy, his anger at Kurama, and his desire for Tonya combine. He was not going to lose the girl to the fox demon. There was just no way.

Jake kissed her possessively, gently but firmly pressing her back against the fridge. He didn't want to scare or anger her so she'd send him flying, but he also didn't want her to walk away. Remembering past mistakes, he fought to keep his hands on her hips, actually succeeding somehow. He was planning on marking Tonya, and he was not going to fail.

Tonya had no problem with letting Jake kiss her, and she didn't feel like she was betraying Kurama. After all, she was going to let the mark fade. Kurama wasn't going to become her mate. No one was going to become her mate. She was going to stay single, no matter what.

She rested her hands on Jake's shoulders, tilting her head to the side and opening her mouth to him. She wanted him to kiss her, really kiss her, like Kurama had. Of course, she was thrilled when Jake took the hint, bringing out his tongue to play with hers.

Jake heard Tonya whimper softly when he tore his lips away from hers, but he ignored the sound. He placed light kisses all over her face, kissed her lips one last time, and then moved to her neck, kissing his way down the left side.

Unlike the last time, when he reached the juncture of neck and shoulder, he didn't hesitate. He bit down before she could send him flying or freeze him.

For the second time that day, Tonya felt the sharp pain of being bitten before it was replaced by the pleasure. It was amazing, especially since the pleasure was more intense than when Kurama had marked her. She stood there, her back against the cold fridge, her front covered with Jake's warm body, as the waves of ecstasy swept through her.

As Jake drew away, he heard a soft moan escape Tonya's lips. The look on her face was priceless though, and he made sure to ingrain that look in his memory so he could never forget it. Her lips, full and pink from kissing, were parted, allowing her quick breaths to flow in and out. Her half-closed blue eyes had a glazed look to them, and they were filled with a look of extreme contentment. Her entire body was relaxed, and he couldn't help but smile smugly.

"Jake-kun?" Tonya whispered, fully closing her eyes.

"Yes, Tonya-chan?" he inquired, but she was already asleep. Chuckling, he swept her into his arms and carried her into the living room. Kurama may have been willing to leave her alone after the marking, but he wasn't. He planned on having her wake up in his arms, not alone.

There was more than one reason to his choice. The first was that it was his way of showing that Tonya would be his... not Kurama's. The second was that he just wanted to hold her.

Still smiling, he laid down on the couch on his side, Tonya's back pressed tightly against his chest by the arm he had slung around her waist. Then, with her situated, he turned on the television and resigned himself to wait for her to wake up.

* * *

Tonya woke up and immediately yawned. She could hear the TV and feel someone's warm arm around her waist. When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Hiei sitting in her favorite chair. It took her brain a few moments to recall what had happened earlier. _'Oh yeah. Jake-kun marked me.' _

She rolled to face Jake, resting her hands on his chest as she snuggled close. He was so warm, which was something she had found out during camp. He was always warm.

"Finally awake, huh?" Jake asked, laughing quietly.

"Yeah, I'm awake," Tonya replied softly. "How long was I out?"

"About an hour and a half," he answered, affectionately nuzzling her neck. He had marked her, which meant that she was close to being his. All he had to do was keep Kurama from mating with her. How hard could that be?

Tonya just let Jake hold her while she gathered up the willpower to stand up. She was extremely comfortable, so she really didn't want to move. Also, she enjoyed snuggling with Jake. It was peaceful.

After a few minutes, she rolled off the couch, literally, and went crashing to the floor, all of which she did on purpose.

"Tonya-chan?" Jake studied her form, eyes sweeping over her body to check for injuries. He remembered her rolling off the couches at camp, but he still wasn't entirely comfortable with it. It looked a little painful.

"I'm gonna go talk to Sari-chan," she responded, standing up. He sighed. _'I should have seen that coming,' _he thought, amused by her attitude. "Okay."

"I'll see you later," Tonya promised, quickly kissing him on the lips before running off.

Seconds later, Tonya was right outside of Sari's room. The door was shut, and the only thing she could hear was the tapping of keys. Someone was on the computer. "Sari-chan?" She knocked on her friend's door.

"What?" Sari shouted back, sounding exasperated. _'Can't I get some time alone?' _

"Can I talk to you?" Tonya inquired.

"Has me saying 'no' ever stopped you before?" she retorted.

"Nope." Tonya opened the door and walked into the room, closing the door behind her. Then, she sat down on Sari's bed Indian style, while Sari sat up and closed her laptop.

"Okay, what is it now?" Sari asked.

Tonya pointed at the sides of her neck. "Jake-kun and Kurama-kun marked me today."

"And...?" She didn't sound impressed.

"The marks are supposed to fade in a week but..." She paused. "Jake-kun said that I'll naturally let him and Kurama-kun get away with more." _'No anger... no flying or freezing... Crap! I'm defenseless!' _

"Okay... you're letting them get away with more. Big deal," Sari replied. "And it sounds like you have a week to get jiggy with it."

"WHAT?" Tonya's eyes became wide, but she quickly calmed back down. "I should have known you would say something like that."

"Duh."

The demon female shook her head. "If I don't get angry at the guys for pushing it, then I can't freeze them or send them flying. This is kind of a problem."

"I don't care about your guy problems," Sari retorted. "I'm still pissed at Hiei, especially since my butt's still bruised because of him, and he's avoiding me. I haven't been able to fucking yell at him! And if I tried, he'd probably try to kill me."

Tonya huffed. "Fine. You wanna yell at him without being killed? I can arrange that. He was in the living room last time I checked." She got up off the bed and left the room.

Sari followed, feeling that whatever was going to happen would be interesting. She entered the living room right as Jake left, which meant that it was just her, Hiei, and Tonya. Good.

"Well, have at it," Tonya stated as she leaned back against a nearby wall. _'If Hiei-sama tries to kill her, I'll just freeze him. It can't be that hard. I froze Jake, and I can do it to the fire demon.' _

Sari walked a little farther into the room, not quite sure if she still wanted to yell at Hiei right then. Her amusement with Tonya's attitude had lessened her anger.

"What do you want, baka ningen?" Hiei snapped rudely.

That did it for Sari, making her blood boil. "I'm not a stupid human!" she shouted, storming up to Hiei and glaring down at his form in the chair. "You're an arrogant asshole who doesn't have the guts to face me. You're the bastard who fucking dropped me on my ass three times and forced me to come back here! And if I'm so stupid, how in the flying fuck did I know what you were saying?"

Tonya smiled. _'I knew there was a reason I taught her a little Japanese.' _

"You're a son of a bitch who can't even tell Yukina that she's your sister! You're a pathetic wussy with no backbone and a serious attitude problem because you're terrified of people!"

Hiei stood up and pointed his naked sword at Sari's throat, instantly making her shut up. "_Ningen..._"

"Stop right there, Hiei-sama!" Tonya ordered, and he immediately froze, unable to move. She calmly walked over and uncurled his fingers from around the hilt of his sword. "I'll be taking this." Hiei voiced some protests (a.k.a. threats), but the girls ignored him.

"He's frozen?" Sari inquired curiously, earning a nod from Tonya in response. "Can I 'torture' him for a while then?" _'Normal torture won't work with Hiei. Pain doesn't affect him, but... I can think of something else that might. It'd be perfect for getting my revenge.' _

"Sure. I'll go, while you enjoy yourself. Tell me when you're done, so I can unfreeze him, and don't kill the little fire demon. I'd hate to explain to Koenma-sama that I let my friend kill one of my guards."

Sari nodded, an evil glint in her eyes. "Sure thing."

"I'm gonna go add this to my collection." Then, humming to herself, Tonya skipped off.

_'Oh, no...' _Hiei thought. He had a bad feeling, and the look in Sari's eyes almost scared him... almost. Whatever she had planned for him was not going to be fun or pleasant in the least.

'Let the games begin.' Sari grinned. "Mine," she said softly, her eyes sweeping over the fire demon's form. He had a great body, that she knew, and he was right in front of her. He was hers for the taking. She could do just about anything, and he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Revenge was going to be sweet.

He glared at her. "I'm not yours."

"Oh... I don't think so. You're mine until Tonya-chan unfreezes you," she replied, lightly running her fingers down one side of his face, just to see how he would react. He basically ignored the touch, much to her disappointment. She would just have to do something more drastic then to fully gain his attention. Excellent. He was giving her just what she wanted-a challenge.

_'Damn. She does have a point there,'_ he thought darkly as he tried to jerk away from her soft touch. He couldn't. "Don't touch me," he ordered gruffly after a moment. If he couldn't physically stop her, then he would have to do it verbally.

"Huh?" Sari allowed her hand to run down his chest, mentally noting all the muscles she could feel. He was most definitely well built, which meant that she was going to enjoy torturing him. "Touch you? Okay." Remembering that Tonya had been able to move his fingers, she raised his arms above his head. _'I can move him around and position him however I like. Nice... This has so many possibilities.' _

"What are you doing?" Hiei demanded to know.

She shrugged slightly. She wanted him to sweat a little before she answered, so she leaned close to him, her lips so close that they almost brushed his. "Taking off your shirt, of course." Before he could even attempt to protest, she pulled his shirt up over his head, tossing it on the ground nearby. His sheath quickly joined the shirt on the floor. "Nice," she commented, admiring his muscles with both her eyes and hands. He had one of those amazing bodies that was hard to keep her hands off of. "Someone's been working out."

"Get your hands off of me," he growled, tensing under her touch. Her touch was light enough to be teasing, leaving his skin with a desire for more. He hated that.

"Why should I?" Sari countered evenly as she lowered his arms back down to his sides, watching his muscles ripple in the process. "You refused to let me leave this house or to put me down when you finally brought me back. You dropped me on my ass. This is my revenge." She smiled evilly as she slowly dragged her hands lower to his abdomen, gently resting them on his six-pack. "Sweet, sweet revenge."

"You wouldn't know what to do with a man if he wasn't frozen," Hiei snapped, hoping that he could somehow make her back off.

"That's where you're wrong," Sari responded, letting her hands slide down even farther, brushing against a certain object in his pants, which she felt react accordingly. "I know exactly what to do with a guy; it's just that you're so fast, it's kind of hard to do anything to you without having you possibly move away. I think you'd quickly run if I tried anything." She paused long enough to suggestively tug on the waistline of his pants. "I hope you're slower in other things."

Hiei growled. "Stop touching me."

"Now, why would I do something like that?" She giggled, tugging on his pants again, just to torment him. She wasn't going to take them off, but he didn't know that.

"Go away!" he shouted, hoping that Kurama or even Jake would come back and put a stop to all of it. He would have even settled for Tonya coming to her senses and freeing him. Above all, he wanted to get away from Sari.

"No." She kissed him when he opened his mouth to say something else, tired of his protests. They were quickly becoming old and annoying, which meant that she needed to give him something new to think about.

Hiei kept perfectly still for a few moments, thinking that she'd abandon the kissing if he didn't respond; however, when she kept it up, he mentally sighed and tried a new strategy-kissing her back. If he didn't act like it was torture, perhaps she would stop it.

The instant he began to kiss her back, Sari drew away, slowly dragging her hands down his chest and then his abdomen. Her hands finally rested on the bulge in his pants, her touch feather-light.

"A lot of people have theorized that... other parts of your body make up for your lack of height," Sari commented, a strange look in her eyes. "I wonder... is it true?"

"You wouldn't," he growled.

"That was the wrong thing to say..." she trailed off, her eyes glinting brighter. She was going to have fun with him now.

"Stop. Now." His voice was strained, as if he was fighting against something internal.

"You can't make demands, Hiei. Last time I checked, I was in control. And, just as a suggestion, unless you want an audience, which I wouldn't mind in the least, you should be quiet."

Hiei's mouth was slightly open, but he quickly snapped it shut and began to grit his teeth. He refused to give Sari the pleasure of torturing him in front of people. He would take whatever she dished out in perfect silence, even if it killed him.

Sari grinned devilishly as she took a step away from him. Then, she slowly circled around him until she could study his back. His back was muscular too, and the view of his lower half was nice, so she paused for a few moments to appreciate it.

"What are you doing?" the fire demon asked ominously. He didn't trust her at all. For all he knew, she was planning on humiliating him. She couldn't kill him, since she had made that promise to Tonya, but there were a lot of things she could do that wouldn't lead to death.

Sari said nothing to him, but she skimmed a hand lightly over his shoulder blades as she returned to the front. Then, placing her hands on his shoulders, she pushed him down into the armchair, which was supposedly Tonya's favorite. _'I wonder if she'll still want to sit in it after this,' she thought. 'I wonder if Hiei will want to sit in it once I'm through with him.' _

"I'm planning on having fun, that's what I'm doing." She grinned unrepentantly before sitting in his lap, straddling him. "You know what? I think they were right about compensation."

Red eyes widened at that statement. _'This is insane,' _he thought as Sari lightly brushed her fingertips over his skin, teasing him. _'I'm being tortured by a human female.' _He successfully fought back a groan when Sari moved against him. She was driving him mad and loving every minute of it.

"Hmmm..." Sari nibbled on his ear, noticing just how tense he was. Her style of torture was definitely affecting him. Good.

She slowly slid off his lap and to the floor, her eyes never leaving his. _'Now for the part he's going to love and hate me for,' _she mused, placing her hands on top of his feet. Then, she gradually drew her hands up his shin, over his knees, and along his inner thighs, massaging his muscles with her fingertips as she continued to advance.

Hiei gritted his teeth even harder, fighting to remain silent. He didn't know what else he could do. He couldn't move, which gave him no options what so ever. Inside, he was torn between wanting Sari to leave him alone and wanting her to continue torturing him.

When her hands closed around his hard manhood, pants and all, Hiei made his decision. He didn't want her to stop. Of course, he would never admit that out loud, but on the inside, he needed her to continue.

Sari slowly rubbed her hand up and down his length, noting how the slow pace seemed to have little effect on him. So, she quickened it, carefully watching his face. His red eyes stared down at her, practically glowing as he struggled not to make a single noise. _'Well, he certainly stopped complaining,' _she thought with some amusement. She rubbed him even faster, smiling evilly when he closed his eyes and all his muscles tensed. Right then, she drew away from him, sitting back to watch the emotions play across his face.

So close. He had been so close, but she had stopped at the last second, leaving him completely helpless and wanting. She was watching him too, a smug look on her face. She was proud of herself as she watched him writhe on the inside.

"What? Don't have the guts to finish?" Hiei wanted to know, voice strained. He was doing good just to talk.

Sari laughed. "What's wrong? Having a few... hard problems?" She leaned forward and rested her arms on his knees, placing her chin on her interlocked fingers. She gazed up at him, the evil glint in her teal eyes still there. "I wonder how long you'll be able to take my torture, don't you?"

"Bitch," he spat out.

"I never said I wasn't," she replied calmly, reaching up to stroke him a few times, bringing him back up to just below the breaking point. _'How long should I keep this up? After a while, it'll become just plain cruel, and I don't want to take my revenge too far.' _

Sari climbed back in his lap, pressing her forehead to his and staring him directly in the eyes. "I don't think you'll be dropping me on my ass again, will you?"

"I have other plans for you," Hiei snapped, tone dark and forbidding.

She smiled. "I hope it's something akin to what I've done to you." She kissed the tip of his nose and then his lips, deciding that she was done. "I'll get Tonya so she can free you."

Hiei was shocked. Sari had gone from a sadistic vixen to a calm, reasonable person. She wasn't going to finish what she had started, damn her. He growled softly, struggling to move. He wanted to jump Sari and give her a taste of her own medicine, if only to make her see that torturing him was a bad idea.

Sari climbed off his lap and walked off, leaving Hiei alone in the living room.

* * *

"Kurama-kun, please don't go out there," Tonya pleaded. Jake, Kurama, and her were all in her bedroom, waiting for the torture session to end. "Sari-chan won't hurt Hiei-sama; I don't even think she's strong enough to do that. She only wants revenge."

The redhead frowned. "She has been at it for over a half hour. I think it's time to call the torture session to an end."

"It'll be awfully hard to stop her," she pointed out, crossing her arms as she felt arms wrap around her from behind. Jake, at least, was being supportive of her.

"I know that she's your best friend, but Hiei is my friend," Kurama replied, walking up to Tonya, lifting her chin with his hand, and brushing his lips against hers. "We both want to side with our friends, but even you have to admit that Hiei does not deserve to be tortured for this long."

Jake growled softly at the kitsune. _'Mine,' _he thought, tightening his grip on the female. _'Don't touch.' _

"It is a long time, but... Sari-chan was really ticked. Hiei-sama did hurt her, and he hasn't exactly been the nicest person to her." Tonya chewed on her bottom lip. "Jake-kun, you can be the tie-breaker. Do we go out there and save Hiei-sama? Or do we wait for Sari-chan to finish?"

"Wait," the neko youkai replied, resting his chin on her shoulder. "From everything you've told me about Sari-san, his torture session won't be all that bad. If anything, it'll be more like a make-out session than actual torture."

Tonya giggled. "Probably. Although, that may be torture for Hiei-sama."

Kurama shook his head in amusement. If it was only going to be kissing, he felt Hiei could deal with it. "Very well. I'll wait," he stated.

"Tonya-chan!" Sari barged into the room right then. "You can free Hiei now. I'm done."

Jake sighed. "Well, that was a wasted conversation."

"You're telling me," Tonya said in agreement. "But, I'd better go unfreeze him."

A mischievous grin on his face, Jake swept the female demon in his arms, surprising her. Kurama glared at the cat demon but didn't say a word. Tonya just squeaked, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"JAKE-KUN!"

Sari laughed. _'It seems that Jake is definitely trying hard to be the one Tonya-chan mates with,' _she thought.

Tonya turned her attention to the other girl. "Are you feeling better now? No more anger?" she inquired curiously.

"Yes." Sari smiled and nodded. "Although I believe Hiei might be a little ticked at me right now." She walked out of the room, leaving the others to wonder.

"Jake-kun... I really should get out to the living room now," Tonya said softly. He nodded in agreement, heading off after Sari. Kurama followed.

Tonya's eyes widened when she saw Hiei. He was sitting in her favorite armchair, his chest bare and his whole body tense. His shirt and sheath were a few feet away, and she couldn't help but notice the bulge in his pants. _'What did Sari-chan do? He looks like he's about ready to go nuts, the poor guy.' _

"Please put me down, Jake-kun," Tonya ordered gently.

He obeyed, letting her go over to Hiei while Sari stayed in the door frame between the living room and the hallway. _'I hated being frozen, and it must have been a lot worse for Hiei-san,' _he thought, watching the demon female kneel in front of Hiei. _'Whatever Sari-san did to Hiei-san, I really hope she doesn't do to me.' _

Hiei glared down at Tonya, seeing her as the reason why he had been tortured. After all, she was the one who had frozen him. "Unfreeze me, now." Of course, he planned on punishing her, and her scent invading his system chose the form of punishment for him.

Tonya smiled softly at him, feeling a little guilty for freezing him so he could be subjected to Sari's torture. "You can move now."

As soon as those words were out of her mouth, Hiei was on her, pinning her to the ground. His lips crashed down on hers, the kiss rough and hard. He was punishing her for allowing him to be put through everything.

Before Tonya could respond, both Jake and Kurama dragged the fire demon off her, their protective instincts raging. While Kurama could accept Jake, his rival, touching Tonya, Hiei was a totally different story. Hiei had no claim to her, so he also had no right to kiss her. She was off-limits to the fire demon, whether he liked it or not.

Hiei quickly calmed down, and as soon as the other two demons released him, he was out the front door.

Tonya blinked, not moving from her spot on the floor. "What just happened?" She turned to look at Sari. "What did you do to him?"

Sari smiled as an evil glint entered her eyes. "I'll tell you later."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

It took Hiei two days to finally set foot inside the safe house again, which meant that he went around shirtless, swordless, and sheathless for that time. Sari didn't mind the shirtless part. With binoculars from Botan, she had taken up "Hiei-watching" whenever he was near enough to spot through a window. Of course, the first thing he did when he stepped inside was collect his shirt, katana, and sheath.

The day the fire demon returned to the inside, all the males had gone back to protecting Tonya 24-7 because of a new note Koenma had received. Who the note was from or what it said, no one knew other than the ruler of Reikai.

As soon as Hiei walked into the house, Tonya decided they needed to celebrate with a movie night. No one argued. Yusuke, Sari, and Kuwabara thought it was a good idea, and Hiei could have cared less. Jake and Kurama just automatically sided with Tonya, mainly because both were still trying to "win" her over. In other words, neither had mated her yet, but that wasn't for lack of trying.

An hour after supper, everyone piled into the living room, Yusuke claiming Tonya's favorite chair, Hiei taking the other arm chair, and the last two demon males claiming the couch. Kuwabara sat down on the floor, while Tonya stuck in the first movie-Pirates of the Caribbean. Sari turned out the lights as the previews began to play and then came up behind Hiei's armchair.

"Are you sure you want to sit there?" she teased, lightly sweeping her fingers across his shoulder.

Hiei growled. "Go away."

Sari crossed her arms in annoyance. "Very well. Be that way."

The fire demon narrowed his eyes. _'I don't like the way she said that. What is she planning?' _

Tonya settled down on the couch between Jake and Kurama, while Sari went over to Yusuke and sat down on the arm of his chair. "I'm not sitting on the floor, so move over some," Sari ordered, a small smile on her face. "Please?"

Genkai's student did as the female asked, moving over so she could share the chair with him.

Hiei noticed what was going on and glared. _'Annoying girl. She's just trying to mess with me.' _

Sari smiled and snuggled closer to Yusuke when she noticed Hiei's face. _'Someone's jealous,' _she thought. "Play along," she whispered in Yusuke's ear. He hesitantly nodded, so she kissed him.

Tonya shook her head. _'Oh my... What is she up to?' _she wondered as an arm wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her close to a warm body-Kurama's warm body. Instinctively, she snuggled closer to him, laying her head on his shoulder and her right hand on his chest. Sari forgotten, Tonya began to watch the movie.

Hiei fumed on the inside. _'I must not kill; I must not kill; I must not kill,' _he repeated over and over to himself. _'Wait a minute? Why do I want to kill? I shouldn't want to. It's just some stupid little human girl. What did she do to me?' _He dug his fingernails into his palms and tried to focus his attention on the TV. It was hard, but he did it... for about five minutes. He found it difficult not to glare and wish death upon Yusuke (for kissing Sari) and Sari (for doing whatever she had done to him).

About half an hour into the movie, Hiei couldn't take it anymore. He left, going into the kitchen.

Sari noticed Hiei's departure and pulled away from Yusuke a little. "Thanks," she whispered, a devious smile on her face.

"What was that for?" the raven-haired punk inquired, but all he received for an answer was an evil smile. She was up to something.

While Sari had noticed Hiei leave, Tonya hadn't. Somehow, the female demon had ended up fully in Kurama's lap, her back against the arm of the couch and her feet resting where she had just been sitting. Not too long after she had moved into the redhead's lap, he had begun kissing her, and she had reacted accordingly. They were still making-out.

Jake growled. Tonya was not supposed to be in Kurama's lap. He didn't mind her sitting between him and his rival, but her sitting in his rival's lap was too much. He had to do something, but he didn't know what. Soon, his instincts decided for him.

He gently but quickly grabbed Tonya and pulled her into his lap. "Mine," he stated possessively, wrapping his arms tightly about her waist.

Tonya frowned slightly but didn't say anything. Kurama shook his head. "We really should get a schedule to decide who gets her and when," he said, although Tonya couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

Jake narrowed his eyes at the kitsune. "Maybe..." He didn't like the idea of the redhead touching Tonya, but if the schedule simplified things, then he supposed he could at least consider the idea.

"Jake-kun..." Tonya whispered, bringing her hand up to touch his face. "Are you done acting silly yet?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

"Good." She kissed his cheek, smiling softly at him afterwards. "Because I don't want you and Kurama-kun to fight."

"We're not fighting," Jake explained, running a hand through her hair. He was not going to lose Tonya to the fox demon, and he was doing everything he could think of to prove that. "We're competing."

"Competing?" she repeated with a slight frown. "Could you not do that either?"

Jake broke out laughing, while Kurama chuckled. "No," the kitsune replied.

"Will you people shut up! The movie's still going," Kuwabara grumbled. They shut up.

Sari, at that point, had grown rather bored of everything. With no Hiei to torment, she just didn't feel like sticking around to watch a movie she had already seen quite a few times. So, without saying a word, she got out of the armchair and left.

* * *

A half hour later, Sari climbed out of the bathtub. "Shit. I forgot my towels are in the wash." Glancing around, she grabbed a bright yellow towel, thinking it was Tonya's. After drying off, she noticed that she had forgotten something else. "My clothes are back in my room... Shit."

Shrugging, she walked out of the bathroom, the towel wrapped tightly around her body. She knew the others still had to be watching the movie, so she was safe. No one would see her in her limited attire.

Sari took one step down the hallway towards her room and almost ran into Hiei. "You're in my towel," he commented.

She looked down at the yellow cloth. _'He has bright yellow towels?' _she mused, silently chuckling. "I'm sorry. Do you want it back?" she inquired.

Hiei shook his head. "No."

"Are you sure?" Sari wanted to know, beginning to slowly unwrap the towel. "I'll be more than happy to give it back."

"Later," he replied, quickly disappearing.

She sighed. "He had better be slower in other things," she muttered to herself. "Or I'll file a complaint."

Not feeling all that happy, Sari went into her room and turned on the light. She loved the dark, but she needed to see so she could change into her pajamas.

Hiei suddenly came in through the window. "I want it back now."

Sari didn't even bat an eye. "Okay." She unwrapped the towel from her body, folded it, and placed it in the fire demon's arms as he stood there in shock. He had been expecting a verbal battle from her, not a complete surrender.

He quickly recovered, which allowed his mind to form a plan for his revenge. Dropping the towel, he picked up Sari and tossed her on the bed, not caring that she was perfectly nude. He quickly unbuckled his belts, using them to tie her wrists to the headboard. Then, smirking, he began to walk to the door.

Sari sighed. "That's it?" she inquired, sounding disappointed. "I could have sworn I taught you better than that."

Hiei turned around to look at her. She had a smug look on her face, a gloating look, as if she felt she had beaten him. That invoked his pride. _'Time to give her a taste of her own medicine.' _He turned back around and flipped off the light. Then, he put his sheathed sword on the floor. He didn't want it getting in the way.

"I guess I did," Sari said with a small laugh as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She didn't mind being tied up, especially because he hadn't tightened the belts nearly enough. If she struggled, she would be able to break free, that much she knew. Whether or not Hiei knew that, she didn't know. She was betting he didn't.

He walked over to the bed and looked down at her, unsure about exactly what to do first. He had never "tortured" someone before, so he felt a little lost. _'What did she do to me first?' _he wondered, trying to recall. When he did remember, he grinned. _'Vengeance.' _

Hiei sat down on the edge of the bed and reached over to Sari, ever so lightly brushing his fingers down one of her cheeks. Sari reacted by turning her head toward his hand, rubbing her cheek against his fingertips. _'She's going to make this difficult for me,' _he thought as he allowed his hand to drift lower, tracing her collarbone.

Sari was about to complain about his pathetic torturing ability, when his hand brushed against one nipple and then the other. That she reacted to, a shiver going down her spine. The touch had been so light that it had just barely been noticeable. "Took you long enough to start taking this seriously," she informed him, feeling his hand gently trace circles on her stomach. "Although your methods need a little work."

He scowled at her. "Be patient," he ordered. The girl was going to drive him insane, he just knew it.

Hiei climbed farther onto the bed, resting so that he was above Sari, yet not touching her. She looked up into his crimson eyes, grinning evilly, but his attention was focused elsewhere. He ran his fingers lightly down her sides until he got to her hips. Then, he lowered his head and followed the same path with his mouth.

He paused, his warm breath caressing her lower abdomen. Sari was reacting to the torture, but not nearly as much as he wanted her to. Since she had driven him right to the edge and then left him, he planned to do the same to her.

"Don't tell me you're done already," Sari whispered, drawing his eyes to hers. "If you are, then I'm filing a complaint with Koenma... or Mukuro... or whoever your boss is at the moment."

"I'm not done," Hiei retorted, his hands just barely tracing over the skin on her hips. "If you're going to keep complaining, I'll gag you."

She grinned. "Go ahead. I won't mind all that much, but..." She drifted off, an evil glint in her eyes. "I think you'll want my mouth free for later."

He didn't verbally respond to that statement, but his mind instantly began thinking of different translations for it. _'French kissing or oral sex?' _he wondered.

"Well-" Sari began, but Hiei cut her off, his lips pressing firmly against hers. He slid his tongue into her mouth, exploring the cavity before pulling away.

The fire demon moved down to her feet, using his hands to spread her legs apart. She didn't fight him, which he had expected her to do. He gently drew his hand over the tops of her feet and her shins, noticing the shiver go up and down her spine. He massaged the tops of her thighs, his fingers just barely rubbing her skin. Then, his hands slid inward, lightly drawing his fingers over her inner thighs.

Sari moaned softly, debating between glaring at Hiei or pleading with him. Although she had made the joke about him going too fast, he was being painstakingly slow... and the pace was killing her. If he didn't do something soon, she'd have to take drastic measures, such as breaking free and taking things into her own hands.

"Okay... so you are slower in other things," she stated breathlessly, arching slightly as his hands moved closer to the juncture between her legs. "I'm very proud of you."

Hiei smirked, knowing that his torture was finally having some effect on her. _'Certainly took long enough,' _he mentally grumbled, laying down between her legs. _'Now to bring her to the edge.' _He slid his tongue into her core, tasting how sweet she was. Surprised by that fact, he closed his eyes and continued to explore her nether regions, enjoying himself.

Only when Sari bucked her hips did he come out of his slight stupor, drawing away from her. The fire demon studied her for a few moments, noting that she was close to her climax but not close enough. Her teal eyes were fixed on him, her lips parted as tiny pants escaped them. The look she was giving him was without a doubt sexy.

Hiei kissed her stomach and then moved to her breasts, sucking on one while he stroked the inside of her. Sari cried out, and he instantly drew away, keeping her from reaching her climax. He smiled smugly and moved to get off the bed. He knew that he had to get out of there before he decided to stay. She was just too tempting.

Arms suddenly wrapped around his waist, a hand resting on his pants, pressing directly on his hard manhood. "And just where do you think you're going?" Sari whispered seductively in his ear.

"You got free," he stated, sounding both surprised and annoyed.

"Yeah. You need to put more holes in your belt if you plan to use them to tie me up again," Sari replied. "I have smaller hands and wrists than you think."

Hiei turned his head to look at her, but he was met with lips that pressed insistently on his. With one of her hands stroking his manhood through his pants, he couldn't help but kiss her back. Their tongues mated as Hiei reached back for her, cupping the side of her face in his hand.

Sari smiled on the inside, pleased with how things were going. Never in her entire life had she ever even dreamed that she would one day be kissing Hiei. She had always thought of him as a cute character on the television, someone who couldn't exist in real life; however she was kissing him and loving every second of it. He was an excellent kisser.

When Hiei drew away so he could turn around and place kisses all over her face and nibble on her ear, she didn't complain. She used the time to catch her breath, her eyes half-closed as she enjoyed what the koorime did to her.

His instincts completely in charge, Hiei slowly kissed his way down Sari's neck, stopping at the juncture between her neck and shoulder. His normal side briefly tried to surface, wanting to stop himself or at least warn Sari about what he was going to do; however, his instincts wouldn't let him.

Sari smiled softly when she felt Hiei pause, noticing exactly where he was when he did it. She could easily remember where Tonya had born her marks, so she had no problem knowing exactly what was going to happen next. _'Go for it, Hiei,' _she thought right before she felt the sharp pain of teeth puncturing her skin. Soon, the pain was over, leaving only intense waves of pleasure that swept through her again and again, making her gasp and groan.

_'Mine,' _Hiei thought as he drew his teeth out of Sari, gently kissing the mark he had left. Before he could say a word, Sari was asleep, obviously worn out.

Knowing that she'd be awake in a couple of hours, he curled up under the covers with her. With his arms wrapped tightly around her waist, he allowed himself to doze off. _'Mine.' _

* * *

Kurama looked down at Tonya, who was currently sleeping with her head in his lap. Sometime during the third movie, she had fallen asleep... not that he minded. He just played with her hair as she slept and Jake fumed.

Yusuke and Kuwabara were both dead asleep, amazingly enough, and Hiei and Sari had never returned. Sari had probably gone to bed, and the fire demon was most likely camped out in a tree. At least, that was Kurama's guess.

"We should put her in bed," Jake stated, voice strained. He was trying not to take Tonya from Kurama; he didn't want to accidentally wake her up. She was a little grouchy when woken up from a dead sleep, as he knew. She had never been much of a morning person, and waking her up at a bad time could be suicidal.

"Yes, but which one of us is going to take her?" the kitsune countered gently, smiling down at the girl as he caressed her cheek. "I don't trust you to do it, and you don't trust me. We're at a stalemate seeing as everyone else is incapacitated."

Tonya yawned, her eyes fluttering open. "I can take myself to bed, thank you very much," she mumbled, sitting up. "Neither of you have to take me." She yawned again.

The neko youkai raised an eyebrow at that statement. "Can you even walk?"

She nodded, proving it by standing up and walking toward the doorway to the hall. Her steps were wobbly, and she couldn't exactly walk straight, but it was better than nothing. "Good night, you guys. I'll see you in the morning." Yawning again, she went to bed.

* * *

Sometime later, Sari smiled at Hiei, who was lying on the bed next to her, naked and breathing hard. During the past few hours, she had learned quite a few things about him.

First, without his belts, his pants slid down incredibly easily. Second, when given the correct motivation and stimulation (a.k.a. a blow job), he had no problems waking up. Third, he had amazing stamina (the ability to do four rounds all in a row was pretty good in her book); and fourth, he was very receptive to whispering in his ears. It seemed to be a rather big turn-on for him, a fact that she had filed away for future reference.

"Have fun?" she inquired softly, gently dragging her hand down his chest. "Because I did."

Hiei pushed some of her hair behind her ear. "You're trying to kill me," he panted, a soft look in his eyes.

"Maybe..." Sari teased. "But at least if I am, I picked the most pleasurable way to have you go."

"Perhaps." He let his eyes wander up and down her body, enjoying what he saw.

Sari frowned slightly at him. "Perhaps?" she repeated, pretending to be hurt by that statement. "Perhaps? Hn. Perhaps I should go and change your mind."

Hiei smirked, easily noticing that she had stolen his saying. He didn't mind though; she was his mate. She was bound to pick up on some of his mannerisms eventually. "I don't think so, but you can try."

She kissed him passionately before pulling back and smiling evilly, her eyes full of promise. "Don't worry. I will."

* * *

Tonya threw her apple up in the air, catching it as it came back down. She was bored out of her mind. Kurama was asleep after staying up and playing "guard-dog" most of the night. Yusuke and Kuwabara were off doing something stupid, which meant that they were outside fighting. Hiei was still missing, and Sari, of course, was still sleeping in her room. Jake was in the kitchen, eating.

She sighed, throwing and catching the apple again. "Bored..." she murmured. "Bored. Bored. Bored."

Jake suddenly came out into the living room looking absolutely miserable.

"Are you okay?" Tonya asked him, sounding worried.

"Headache," he mumbled, practically collapsing on the couch. Moving around was murder on him, as it aggravated the throbbing inside his skull.

"Awww... _pobre chico_." She slowly moved him so his head was resting in her lap. Then, she gently ran her fingers through his hair as he closed his eyes and sighed. His hair was so soft, and it smelled good, so she just couldn't help herself.

Jake was finally content. Tonya's scent comforted him more than he could have ever imagined. It soothed the pounding in his head better than any aspirin could, and her fingers caressing his scalp gave him something else to concentrate on besides his headache.

Tonya continued to rub his head for a while, enjoying herself. She wasn't sure why, but as the days progressed, her found herself wanting to touch Jake and Kurama more. She wanted to cuddle with them and kiss them, although she wasn't quite sure why. Her money was on her instincts though.

After about ten minutes, she moved her hands down to his shoulders, gently massaging the muscles there. She breathed in his pleasant, masculine scent as she allowed her hands to do whatever they wanted, including undoing the buttons on his shirt.

Jake didn't make a move to stop Tonya. The thought of halting her actions didn't even cross his mind, mainly because he enjoyed what she was doing. Of course, he couldn't let her take it too far while they were in the living room, but he figured they could always move to her bedroom. Some things were just best done in privacy.

Tonya's hands had just reached the neko's ab muscles when Yusuke and Kuwabara walked in. She froze, a blush immediately staining her cheeks. _'Oh my dear Lord.' _She had never expected anyone to walk in on them, and she was not one for having an audience when she did something so intimate.

"What are you two doing?" Kuwabara inquired, which only caused Tonya to blush an even brighter red. She didn't remove her hands from Jake's body though. Her instincts were raging too strongly for that. She was doing good to merely freeze in place.

Yusuke began to shove his friend towards the hallway. "Shut up and keep walking. I want food."

"But-" the carrot top began to protest.

"Just keep walking," the raven-haired detective repeated sharply, continuing to push his friend out of the room.

Tonya sighed in relief once the two guys were gone, leaning back against the arm of the couch. Her hands slid up to rest on top of the dark-skinned youth's head as she relaxed and allowed the tension to drain away from her.

"I'm going to kill Kuwabara-san," she muttered after a moment, eyes flashing in anger. No one was supposed to humiliate her like that... no one.

"Kill him later," Jake advised, sitting up.

"Why?" Tonya inquired, a curious expression on her face. She couldn't think of a single reason to wait. "I'd love to kill him now."

He smiled. "This is why." He cupped her face in his hands and gently kissed her, hoping that the attention would be well received. He didn't want her blowing up and sending him flying across the room again. Of course, she had been touching him all over, which almost gave him the right to kiss her.

Happily, the attention was more than well received. Tonya reacted to his kiss by leaning back and pulling Jake with her, opening her mouth to him. She was only giving into her instincts... not that she minded. Kissing in general was fun.

Jake gladly did what she wanted, moving them until they were lying on the couch, Tonya beneath him. He briefly recalled all the times she had made him go flying for pushing it with her, but he quickly shoved them aside. He had more important things to worry about... like the demon underneath him that was demanding attention.

"Jake..." Tonya moaned, staring up at him through half-closed eyes. She wasn't mentally alert enough to remember that she needed to attach an honorific to his name. The part of her brain that was alert just happened to be concentrating on something more important than honorifics.

He knew what she was asking for, so he gave it to her, kissing her as he allowed his hands to wander. Her fingers massaged the back of his neck, her body arching up against his.

When Jake began pulling off her shirt, Tonya came out of her daze, forcing her instincts to the back. She didn't want things to proceed any farther, but her anger had yet to surface.

"Please... stop," Tonya pleaded as Jake pulled her shirt up and over head. "Jake!" She gasped when he began massaging her breasts. "Stop..." She shook her head, summoning up all her will power. "STOP IT! Please!"

_'She has got to be joking,' _Jake thought, pausing for a moment. _'She let me get this far and then tried to stop me? This is insane.' _"Tonya..." he whispered against her mouth before kissing her. She, of course, responded like normal-she kissed him back.

"Jake? Tonya?" Yusuke called out as he walked into the living room. He instantly noticed the two people on the couch, but he couldn't quite figure out why Tonya had shouted. She seemed to be enjoying herself.

Shaking his head, he did the only thing he could think of; he pulled Jake off of Tonya. She quickly recovered, blushing and pulling back on her shirt.

"Thanks," she whispered, still bright red. She couldn't remember ever feeling so embarrassed.

"What was going on?" Yusuke inquired, frowning. If she had called out for nothing, he was going to be pissed.

Jake began rebuttoning his shirt, blushing slightly as well. "Ummm... Things got a little out of hand."

Tonya nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah. Just a little bit." _'That was a major understatement.' _

Yusuke threw his hands up in the air. "Great. After all that, I'll never be able to sit on that couch again." Still grumbling, he walked off.

"I'm... gonna go make lunch." Face bright red, Tonya quickly left.

Jake sighed. "Damn."

* * *

Sari gave Hiei one last kiss before sliding out of bed. "As good as you taste, I need something else to eat," she informed him with a smile, pulling clothes out of drawers and tossing them on.

The fire demon moved to do the same thing, but he encountered a small problem. "What did you do with my pants?" he asked her.

Sari shrugged. "I'm not sure." She began looking around the room, but she saw nothing. His pants were no where to be seen... at least out in the open. When they checked the rest of the room, they couldn't find the pants anywhere, even under the bed. "What happened to them?" She bit her bottom lip thoughtfully, trying to remember. _'I threw them across the room, but where did they land?' _

Hiei finally glanced out the open window, which he had forgotten to shut the night before. "They went out the window," he stated coolly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"They what?" Sari broke down laughing. _'I have pretty damn good aim when I'm not paying attention.' _She brought herself mostly under control. "Well, you could just run out there, grab them, and then run back inside," she suggested, still giggling. _'Poor Hiei.' _

"I don't think so," he replied. "You threw them out there; you can go get them."

"Now, why would I want to go and do a thing like that?" she inquired teasingly. "You look perfectly fine in your boxers, so what do you need your pants for?"

Hiei merely continued to glare at her.

Sari threw up her hands in defeat. "Fine. Fine." She grinned. "But you owe me big... and I mean big, but at least I know you can deliver." Her eyes drifted down to his boxers. "Well, I'll be fetching your pants now. Don't go away." With a devious look in her eyes, she left the room.

The koorime shook his head and sat back down on the bed. "Sadistic bitch."

* * *

Smiling, Sari walked out the front door, not surprised when no one commented on the fact that she had been in her room for a rather long time. Without saying a word, she walked around the house and found Hiei's pants. Interestingly enough, she found one of her bra's nearby. Sometime during the morning, she had tried to get dressed, but Hiei had vetoed that option for her... not that she had minded.

_'So, it seems that he should have come out here with me,' _she thought with some amusement. _'I'll have to tease Hiei when I get back inside.' _

Still grinning, she walked into the house, but no one ignored her that time.

"Sari?" Kuwabara pointed at the pants in her hands. "Whose are those?"

"Whose do you think they are?" she retorted.

The carrot-top shrugged.

Tonya walked into the room, a plate of eggs in her hands. "What's going on?" Her eyes became wide. "Oh my dear... SARI-CHAN! When in the flying flip did you get marked? For that matter, who marked you?"

Sari just gave her friend a look and held up the pants. "Who do you think?"

"You've got to be joking." Tonya almost dropped her plate in shock. She couldn't believe that Sari was holding Hiei's pants in her hand. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to know how or why her friend had gotten herself marked by the fire demon. It was almost too much.

"Do I look like I am?"

"Shit!" She took a deep breath. "How?"

"Tonya-chan, I'm hungry and I have a half-naked guy in my bedroom waiting for his pants," Sari replied. "I'll talk to ya later."

Tonya blinked. "Ummm... okay." She went back into the kitchen and Sari walked down the hall.

Kuwabara frowned. "What the hell is going on?"

* * *

Sometime later, Sari and a fully dressed Hiei walked into the kitchen. She quickly went about raiding the fridge, heating up leftovers. The fire demon poured drinks.

"Hungry, huh?" Tonya asked, leaning against the door frame.

"Duh," Sari retorted, handing Hiei a plate of food. "I skipped breakfast."

"I think I know why." Tonya grinned. "But when did Hiei-san flipping mark you?"

"Last night."

"Are you done asking stupid questions," Hiei snapped.

She shrugged, completely unfazed by his rude attitude. "Don't know," she answered. "I'm kinda lost. I don't quite understand what happened or why." Chuckling, she hung her head. "Kuwabara-san's still confused too. He doesn't even believe that you two are mates."

"He's an idiot, so I'm not surprised," the fire demon stated.

"Me neither," Sari agreed.

Tonya sighed. "Well, I'm gonna go bug someone else. See you later... hopefully." Smiling, she walked off.

Sari shook her head. "There are days I really worry about her."

* * *

A few more days passed, and Sari and Hiei slowly became friends in addition to being mates. Tonya, on the other hand, developed a rather large problem. Her instincts were going nuts, demanding that she take a mate, and since she was on the seventh day, she barely trusted herself around Kurama and Jake. Of course, constantly fighting her instincts left her tense and irritable.

_'This must be how the guys feel around me,' _she thought as she dug through her closet. _'How they haven't gone insane, I don't know.' _

Tonya growled. "Where is my kitsune?" Grumbling, she threw a pillow and then a book over her shoulder, still searching.

"I believe he's in the kitchen, cleaning up all the stuff he used to make supper," Jake stated, coming to stand in the doorway. He didn't sound happy.

She turned to look at him, an expression of confusion on her face. "What are you talking about? My kitsune is a stuffed animal. How could he be in the ki-" She cut herself off, suddenly realizing what Jake had meant. "Oh. You thought I was talking about Kurama-kun." She giggled. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it." He paused, taking a few more steps into the room. Her scent was so thick and enchanting that he couldn't help himself. "So why do you call it 'my kitsune?'"

"'Cause I was too lazy to think of a real name for it." Tonya sighed, standing up. "He's somewhere around here, but I'll worry about finding him later." She would have liked to have kept on searching, but with Jake in the room, she really couldn't concentrate on much else.

_'I need some kind of distraction... some way to keep my demon instincts from taking over,' _she mused, chewing on her bottom lip. After a moment, she came up with something.

"Jake-kun, can you show me how to change into my demon form?" she inquired. _'That should keep me entertained, and maybe I'll be able to control my instincts better.' _

"Sure."Nodding his head, Jake proceeded to explain everything to her. He even demonstrated the process, shifting into his demon form for her.

A few moments later, Tonya did the same thing.

She blinked, reaching up to touch her new, fuzzy ears that were on top of her head. "How cute!" She giggled, glancing over her shoulder to see her tail. It was kind of bushy, resembling a Himalayan cat's tail-lighter colored near the base but dark auburn at the tip. "Wow..." She raised a hang up, studying it. Her fingernails were even a little longer than normal.

Tonya froze when her instincts swamped her. They were even stronger than before, and she knew she couldn't fight against them any longer. She couldn't even remember why she was supposed to be fighting against them.

Jake realized her instincts had taken over when she closed and locked the door. "Tonya." He really didn't know what to do or say. Of course, she didn't let him decide; she chose for him by rubbing his ears.

By the time Tonya started leading him toward the bed, all rational thought had left him.

* * *

Tonya blinked and looked over at the naked guy next to her in bed. _'Oh my... What have I done?' _She felt her cheeks heat up. Her demon instincts had finally receded to the back; at least, they had mostly receded. She was still in demon form, as was Jake. _'I have a mate now. I'm eighteen, and I'm pretty much married. Oh my dear Lord.' _

Jake tensed, knowing what was going to happen. _'She is not going to be happy. I'm going to go flying... or at least get slapped.' _He nervously watched her. _'Without her instincts, she'll have no problem becoming angry with me.' _

_'I'm married... I can barely believe it.' _She mentally sighed. _'Well, there's nothing I can do about that now, so...' _She grinned evilly. _'I might as well enjoy myself.' _She reached out to touch him, her movements a little hesitant, unsure about how well her actions would be received.

_'Oh shit. I'm doomed.' _He had noticed her smile, and that had him worried. _'She's ticked.' _

Tonya paused right before her fingers came in contact with his skin. _'Oh... what the hell. The worst he can do is push me away, and if I really wanted him, I guess I could just freeze him and then have my way with him. Nah. Normal seduction's better.' _

Jake took a breath and prepared for the incoming slap. What he expected didn't happen. Of course, what she actually did surprised him... not that he minded being surprised. He was pleased by what Tonya did.

She jumped him.

* * *

Eventually, Tonya and Jake got dressed and went to the kitchen, reheating leftovers. Once they had food, they went out to the living room, sticking in a movie and curling up on the couch. Within moments, everyone else piled into the living room. Sari and Hiei claimed one of the arm chairs, and Yusuke claimed Tonya's favorite seat. Kuwabara plopped down on the floor. Kurama almost sat down on the couch next to Tonya, but he noticed the mark on the left side of her neck was the only one she had. The mark on the right side-his mark-was gone.

The kitsune smiled and kissed the top of her head. "It seems I lost." Then, he brought a chair from the dining room into the living room, sitting down in it.

Tonya blinked. "Okay..." She shrugged, set her plate down on the floor, and snuggled closer to Jake.

During the movie, both Jake and Tonya fully stretched out on the couch, Tonya on top of her mate. A few moments later, she fell asleep, a content smile on her face. Jake ran his fingers through her hair, still somehow watching the movie even though his attention was on the sleeping girl.

Sari simply smiled at the couple. "It certainly took them long enough," she whispered to Hiei, nodding her head in Jake and Tonya's direction. "I had to listen to her go on and on about him during the school year. For quite a while, Tonya thought that he liked her as only a friend, even though she liked him as more."

Hiei shook his head. "_Neko no baka_," he stated, rolling his eyes.

She laughed softly. "Definitely." Then, she pressed her lips to his, tired of the movie. She had other things on her mind... other, more entertaining things.

Within moments, the fire demon stood up, Sari in his arms, and left the living room.

Kuwabara blinked. "Why'd they leave? The movie isn't over yet?" he asked dumbly.

Jake snorted but didn't respond. He didn't see any point to it. The carrot-top still had problems accepting the fact that Hiei had a mate. _'Baka,' _he thought, mentally shaking his head.

Yusuke leaned forward and hit Kuwabara on the head. "Why do you think they left? They wanted time alone, stupid!"

"Shh!" Jake pointed at the female laying on top of him. "You don't want to wake her up." Tonya had a habit of becoming rather ticked whenever someone woke her up, and the last thing he wanted was an angry Tonya laying on him.

Luckily, she didn't wake up, although she did mumble something, rubbing her cheek against Jake's chest.

Kurama shook his head. "It certainly took you two long enough to mate," he commented softly. "I was beginning to wonder how much more I would have to intervene."

Jake stared at the kitsune for a moment. "What?" he asked, confusion in his voice.

"I could easily see that you were both attracted to one another, so I did my best to encourage your relationship. Jealously is the easiest way to convince a demon to make his move on a girl," the redhead clarified. "I acted as your rival in order to bring you two closer together." _'Of course, that doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy kissing Tonya all those times,' _he thought. _'Her being in heat made sure of that.' _

Jake's eyes remained wide. He almost couldn't believe it. _'Kurama planned... everything?' _He mentally shook his head, sighing softly. He couldn't even think of anything to say to the kitsune. After all the competing they had done, the redhead hadn't really even been his rival. It had all just been an act to get him to mate with Tonya.

After a few moments, Jake smiled. "Thank you," he said, hugging Tonya close to him and nuzzling his nose into her hair.

Kurama smiled back. "You are welcome. I figured you would need the help."

Both Yusuke and Kuwabara (both who had been paying attention to the conversation) were surprised. "You mean... this entire time you weren't serious about mating her?" Yusuke inquired, shock in his voice. He almost couldn't believe it.

"Precisely," the redhead answered.

_"Geez, _you're a good actor. I would have never even guessed that you were trying to hook those two up," the punk stated, a half smile on his face. "I'm impressed."

Kurama chuckled. "Well, it wasn't hard to act like I wanted her since my demon part desired her. She was in heat, after all, and you yourself know just what that means."

"Yeah, I wanted to kiss her right up until... now, pretty much." Yusuke shrugged.

At that moment, Botan appeared, a huge smile on her face. "Good news!" she declared, clapping her hands.

Jake glared at her. "Quiet!" he hissed. "Tonya's asleep."

"Ooops. Sorry." She looked dutifully embarrassed before looking around the room. "Hey... where's Hiei and Sari-chan?"

Yusuke grinned. "Probably back in Sari's bedroom."

Botan blinked, not fully understanding the answer for a moment. "OH!" she exclaimed when it finally hit her. "So Hiei actually took a mate?"

Kurama nodded. "Yes, much to the surprise of many of the people here."

"Well, that certainly puts a new spin on things," the ferry girl stated, sitting down in the chair that Hiei and Sari had vacated earlier. "Koenma-sama wants to speak with Tonya-chan and Sari-chan."

"Why?" Jake inquired, frowning slightly. He wasn't sure if he liked the idea of the ruler of spirit world talking to the girls. Every time Koenma showed up, something was really wrong.

"Well, the girls should be able to go home soon, so he wants to have a little chat with them," Botan replied. "You know, to set some rules down for them and give them the stories they're supposed to tell their friends and family."

"Wow... how exciting." Yusuke rolled his eyes. "I'm glad it's them and not me."

"Yeah, you'd probably never be able to remember the story," Kuwabara said, laughing.

"What was that?" the raven-haired spirit detective demanded to know, standing up and glaring down at the carrot-top.

Almost immediately, a shouting match broke out between the two, causing Tonya to stir. "_Ningen no bakas_," she mumbled, sounding annoyed. "Shut up."

Interestingly enough, Yusuke and Kuwabara stopped making any noises what-so-ever, although their mouths continued to move for a moment. They quickly realized that they could no longer talk, which freaked them out a little. Unfortunately for them, Tonya couldn't undo that bit of magic, considering the fact she had already fallen back asleep.

Botan laughed, purple eyes sparkling. "Now that's a power I wish I had," she stated, standing up and bringing out her oar. "Well, since Tonya's asleep and Sari is... busy, I'll just come back later. Bye!" With an enthusiastic wave, she flew out the window, disappearing.

* * *

**pobre chico - poor boy**

**neko no baka - stupid cat**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Botan returned in the afternoon the next day, only to find everyone in the living room. Jake and Tonya were on the couch, curled up together and talking. Sari and Hiei were in one of the chairs, Sari on the fire demon's lap. Not to anyone's surprise, they were kissing. Kurama was in the other armchair while Yusuke and Kuwabara leaned against the wall. The three single males were having a conversation (Yusuke and Kuwabara were lucky enough to actually be able to talk), although what it was about, the ferry girl didn't get to find out. They stopped talking as soon as she entered the room.

"Good afternoon!" the bubbily girl called out, smiling.

Sari broke away from Hiei for a moment, raising an eyebrow at Botan. "Okay... why exactly are you here? I remembering Jake saying something about you wanting to take us to Koenma."

"Baka ferry girl." Hiei looked annoyed, probably because Sari was no longer paying full attention to him.

Botan nodded. "Koenma-sama wants to talk to you and Tonya-chan," she replied. "You both will be free to leave the safe house soon."

"YES!" Sari exclaimed, face lighting up. "I can't wait!"

Tonya turned her attention from Jake to the rest of the room at that shout. "Oh, hi, Botan-chan," she said cheerfully. "I didn't see you come in. Are we going to leave now?"

"Well, I'd like to," the ferry girl replied, summoning up her oar. "If you two would get on, we could leave." She glanced at each of the males. "I'm assuming the boys can find something to do while you both are gone."

Sari was the first on the oar. "I hope you know I'm only going to give Koenma a piece of my mind, the stupid toddler."

"Hn. That doesn't surprise me," Hiei commented. He loved his mate's attitude.

"I have a few things to say to him too," Tonya agreed. "But, I don't think they'll be near as bad as what Sari-chan has to say." She gave Jake a quick kiss. "I'll see you later." Then, she climbed onto the oar as well.

"Hold on tight!" Botan advised. The girls did as ordered and then they were gone.

Jake smiled softly. "Kuwabara, remember you asked about water wars a while back?"

The carrot top nodded his head. "Yeah."

"I'm curious too," Yusuke added.

"Well, if you want the answer, grab Tonya's laptop. I'll give you the internet address to go to if you want to read her stories," the neko youkai continued, looking over at Hiei. "You might be interested in this too, considering Sari is a character in one of them... and so are you. All of you are characters in some of them."

With everyone's interest peaked, they retrieved the laptop and began reading.

* * *

In _Reikai_, Botan ushered Tonya and Sari into Koenma's office. They found the toddler sitting behind his unusually clean desk. For the first time, he had no papers to go through.

"Have a seat," Koenma said, gesturing at the chairs in front of his desk. Tonya took a seat, but Sari remained standing. "I have a few things to say to you two, and then you can go back to the safe house and pack. You're going home tomorrow."

Tonya's eyes lit up with joy. "Yea!" she cheered. "It's going to be so much fun... although I will miss the guys." She paused for a moment. "Now, just why do we get to go home now?"

"Well, some of our agents caught the demons who were after you, so it's safe for you now. No one is hunting you anymore," the toddler replied.

"That's great and all," Sari began, eyes like fire. "But I want to know what the fuck you were thinking when you stuck Tonya in a house with five guys when she was in heat! And you had better explain the purpose behind keeping me there! You could have just asked me not to talk!" She continued to yell at him, calling him quite a few degrading names in the process.

"Forcing you to stay with Tonya was merely a safety precaution. You wouldn't want to have caused your friend's death, now would you?" Koenma stated as soon as Sari quieted.

She glared at him. "No, I wouldn't, which is why I would have kept quiet for however fucking long you needed me to," she retorted. "Now, I want to know why Tonya was trapped in a house with five guys while she was in heat!"

Tonya sighed, keeping silent. _'This is insane. Sari is demanding answers from Koenma! The ruler of Reikai! It's unbelievable... although, I would like to know why I had male guards as well.' _

Koenma fidgeted for a moment. "Well, I didn't know she was in heat. If I had, I would have certainly tried to come up with a female guard."

Sari frowned darkly. "I don't fucking think so. You knew good and well that Tonya was in fucking heat. For heaven's sake, Tonya found out from Botan, and I know that Botan tells you fucking everything!" she shouted. "So don't give me that bullshit! I want an explanation... right now!"

He sighed. "We have no female spirit detectives... or at least ones strong enough to protect her. All of them would easily be defeated by the weakest class of demon."

She mused over that response for a while, trying to decide whether or not to accept it. 'It does make sense,' she admitted to herself eventually. _'Although, I still don't like anything that's happened. Stupid Koenma.' _"Very well. I'll accept that excuse... however grudgingly."

Tonya smiled. "Alright, I have a few questions, like what am I supposed to tell people and exactly what kind of powers do I have?"

"It's simple, you tell people that the FBI put you in the witness protection program by mistake," Koenma answered.

Sari and Tonya stared in shock. "That's it?" Sari wanted to know. "That's the best fucking cover story you can come up with, you perverted toddler?"

The ruler sighed. "It's a simple one that is as close to the truth as you can get. Considering how badly Tonya lies, I figured it would be for the best."

Tonya hung her head, her cheeks pink. _'This isn't fair. I can't believe my inability to tell lies is actually causing problems. Isn't it good that I have to be honest?' _

Sari laughed. "You do have a point there." Of course, she quickly caught herself, not liking the fact that she was acting friendly with a guy she had a serious grudge against. She was NEVER going to like Koenma, not after all the crap he had put her through.

"What about my powers?" Tonya inquired softly.

Koenma shrugged. "I don't know. No one knows," he answered. "You'll just have to discover them as you go along."

Botan barged into the room right then. "Um... sorry, Koenma-sama, but you have some important business to take care of. Can I take the girls home now?"

"What?" Tonya shouted, surprised that they had had so little time. "Already?"

The ferry girl nodded. "Yes, I'm afraid so."

Sari rolled her eyes. "This is pathetic."

"Not really," Botan replied as four ogres came in, each carrying a huge stack of papers. "It's nearly midnight back at the safe house. Time passes here rather quickly."

Tonya's jaw dropped. "Dear Kami!"

Sari nodded in agreement. "You got that right. I wasted half a fucking day just so I could yell at stupid Koenma for a measly few minutes." Growling, she half-stormed out of the room.

Sighing, Tonya stood up. "Thanks, Koenma-sama." Then, she left.

* * *

Tonya and Sari arrived back at the safe house to find all the guys in the living room, gathered around Kurama, who was sitting in a armchair with a laptop. Poor Hiei seemed to be in a state of shock, Yusuke, Jake, and Kuwabara were laughing their heads off as Kurama read something out loud, a strange expression on his face. He seemed like he was between laughter and shock.

"What's going on?" Sari asked, hugging Hiei around the shoulders from behind.

"Yeah, what's so funny?" Tonya wanted to know.

Yusuke and Jake froze, fear in their eyes. Kurama looked up from the computer screen, obviously surprised. Hiei moved only to pull Sari in front of him, his arms wrapping around her waist possessively.

Kuwabara, on the other hand, could barely stop laughing. "Give us a moment, we're on the last chapter of _Vacation Time_," he said before noticing exactly who was talking to. "Uh-oh."

Tonya narrowed her eyes in anger. "You're what?" she growled out, her whole body tense.

"Nothing!" the carrot-top replied quickly, waving his hands in front of him to try to ward off her fury.

"Nothing?" she repeated in a pleasantly dangerous tone, raising an eyebrow. "But I could have sworn you said you were reading _Vacation Time_."

Sari chuckled, leaning back against Hiei's chest. "This is going to be good. Tonya is far beyond protective over her stories, so stand by for minced _Reikai Tantei_. Would you prefer fried or baked Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama?"

"None." He paused. "So, _Cassie_, did you have a hand in writing that story?" the fire demon asked as Tonya in her demon form began chasing all the boys around the room. Even Kurama was running from her, the laptop still in his arms; although, he didn't seem frightened in the least. Jake, Yusuke, and Kuwabara, on the other hand, looked downright scared. They didn't want to find out what else she could do with her powers.

"Maybe," Sari teased, grinning as her eyes lit up playfully. "I'm not telling."

"I'll make you tell," Hiei stated firmly, narrowing his eyes slightly. He liked a challenge, which Sari always presented.

She laughed. "You're more than welcome to try. I wish you the best of luck, even though I must warn you that I'm not an easy person to crack."

"Don't worry, I'll succeed." Then, without another word, he slung her over one shoulder and carried her off, Sari grinning evilly.

No one else noticed their departure. They were all too busy running away from the rampaging demoness who was spouting rather violent, curse-filled threats. She seemed to mean what she said as well, which bothered even Kurama. He had only heard such threats coming from his most hated enemies, not from a girl he was supposed to be protecting.

Unfortunatly for Jake, Tonya caught him, pouncing on him like a cat would. She pinned him to the ground as the others ran outside, Kurama leaving the laptop inside.

"What the fuck do you guys think you were doing?" she snarled, her chest heaving from pure fury.

Jake laughed nervously. "Well, nothing much," he answered.

Tonya continued to scowl, but she relieved enough pressure from him so he could roll over and face her. She wanted him to see the anger in her face. As soon as she could look him in the eyes, she sat down on his stomach, her hands on his shoulders to keep him from moving. "Nothing much, huh?" she repeated dangerously, her tail swishing vigoriously behind her as her fury rose.

He nodded. "Yeah, exactly," he replied, smiling slightly. _'I need to find a way to difuse her anger before she does something with her powers again,' _he thought, furiously trying to think of something. When he saw her ears twitch, his smile grew. Without warning, he reached up and began rubbing them, earning a sensual purr from her in response.

She instantly relaxed, moving her head so he could scratch the base of her ears. The rubbing felt so good, and she could slowly feel her demon instincts rise up. At the moment though, she really didn't care. _'Now I know how Jake felt when I rubbed his adorable ears,' _she mused absently, still purring.

Jake chuckled, a true smile on his face. She was obviously no longer angry, which he thanked Kami for. The only question was how long she would stay calm. He didn't know the answer to that, but he was hoping she would remain calm.

When she leaned down and kissed him, he mentally sighed in relief, wrapping his arms around her. _'It seems things are going to be okay.' _

Then, they let things take their natural course... straight to the bedroom.

* * *

The next day, Koenma watched the screen that showed the group leaving the safe house. Hiei was going with Sari, while Jake was leaving with Tonya. Sari wanted to finish up school before she left anywhere with the fire demon, so he had decided to stick around ningenkai long enough for her to do that. Jake was planning on remaining in Tonya's town until they both graduated. Then, they were going to marry.

Kurama and Yusuke had already returned to Makai, and Kuwabara was preparing to leave for home. Of course, he had to take a few parting shots at the short demon, which ended up causing Hiei to draw his sword. Sari simply watched the whole situation, enjoying it. After a few minutes, though, she diffused it by kissing Hiei. Then, Sari and Hiei left in her silver-purple mustang as Jake and Tonya left in his beat-up truck. Kuwabara was the last to leave, but eventually he headed for home.

Koenma sighed in relief right as Botan walked in, dressed in her normal pink kimono, a large smile on her face. "Good afternoon, Koenma-sama," she greeted him brightly.

"Yes, it is," he agreed. "Mukuro is going to be most pleased at this turn of events. She was wondering when Hiei was going to settle down."

"What?" Botan didn't quite understand what was going on. _'Shouldn't Koenma be talking about the demons that were just captured?' _she wondered.

"And remind me to send a thank-you note to Raizen. The threatening notes he sent about Tonya were brilliant," Koenma continued.

The ferry girl, of course, grew even more confused. "Are you saying that the notes weren't real?" she inquired.

"Of course, silly," he replied. "Do you honestly think that I would simply stuff Tonya in some safe house if some demons really wanted her? It'd be more logical to bring her here to _Reikai_."

Botan blinked. "But then... what was the deal with everything then? Why'd the guys have to protect her?"

"They didn't have to protect her," Koenma answered. "Mukuro, Yomi, Raizen, and I simply wanted to stick the detectives in a house with a demoness in heat so at least one of them would settle down. We picked Tonya because we knew she liked both Kurama and Hiei. Of course, none of us were expecting Sari to suddenly show up, but she turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Personally, I expected Hiei to take Tonya as a mate instead of Sari, but it all worked out in the end."

"WHAT?" She almost fell over. "You mean to tell me you staged this whole thing?"

He nodded. "Duh. Tonya may be powerful, but no one outside of _Reikai_, the three demon rulers, and the spirit detectives know that fact. How could an evil demon want her if he doesn't know about her?" He leaned back in his chair. "Anyways, both Hiei and Jake have settled down, which is a definite improvement. Now... what to do about Yusuke and Kurama? Although Yusuke does have Keiko, for that they tend to be on-again off-again."

Botan did fall over. "You've got to be joking. You're actually trying to play matchmaker?"

Koenma didn't pay much attention to her. He merely nodded absentmindedly as he flipped through a file. "Here we go. Here's another demoness about to go into heat, and she's quite the looker. Botan, tell Kurama, Kuwabara and Yusuke that they're about to go on another protection mission, and here's the girl they're supposed to look after."

He handed the picture and data to the shocked ferry girl, quickly moving on to different business. "Now, where's my stamp?"


End file.
